25 days of Christmas
by Zarak342
Summary: G1. 25 drabbles of Christmas. When Jazz, absolutely thrilled, fails to get Prowl into the spirit of Christmas, he initiates a plan; Mission December Spirit, and he’s dragging the whole Ark into it. Slash *might* be implied later on. Merry Christmas!
1. One sticky heart

**25 days of Christmas**

**First: One sticky heart**

Jazz was humming, delighted, overjoyed, skipping down the hallway to a beat no one else could hear. Though the occasional word that escaped him would explain why he was in such an overly happy mood.

It was only yesterday that Spike and Carly had explained to the Autobots the concept of _Christmas_, and already Jazz – amongst several others – had begun a countdown.

Most of the crew looked forward to the whole 'Christmas thing' and those who didn't found a certain amusement in watching the others. Optimus had shown interest in the jolly time, always the one to tell the Autobots to open up to the humans' peculiar cultures. Of course, there were those who didn't like the idea – Red Alert for one, who had decided that the whole concept of 'Santa Claus' and 'Santa's elves' visiting to give presents, and that the traditions – _especially_ the mistletoe – were enough to put him in a paranoia fritz. Inferno was constantly trying to convince him otherwise.

And then there was Prowl…

"Heya Prowl!" Jazz waved excitedly as he saw the officer walk in the hallway, deeply engrossed in a datapad. The second the Datsun was within arm reach, Jazz picked up something from subspace and, albeit not hard, slammed the palm of his hand against Prowl's forehead. Prowl looked up from the pad, a little startled, only to sigh in annoyance when he spotted the sticky, red and blue Christmas heart now decorating his chevron. "Lookin' forward ta Christmas?" Jazz continued, grinning widely.

Prowl carefully – making sure none of the _tape_ got stuck to his alloy – peeled off the Christmas decoration, before studying it with a peculiar look on his face. "I can hardly see why I should look forward to it, Jazz," he calmly answered. "It is still twenty-four Earth days away, almost a month."

"Twenty-three days and nine hours," Jazz corrected with a smirk.

"… Are you counting?"

"Yup!"

"Either way," Prowl said, rubbing the bridge of his nose, a habit he had picked up from Sparkplug, "there is no reason to start celebrating so far ahead. As much as I understand your enjoyment in the human customs, please don't let it come in the way of your duties."

Prowl couldn't find the logic in Christmas, thus he simply wouldn't consider it.

Much to the chagrin of Jazz.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I've got monitor duty in a couple of minutes." With that, Prowl placed the sticky side of the Christmas heart on Jazz' hand before walking past the saboteur. "I'll see you at our shift."

Jazz stood a little, staring at the Christmas heart before he shrugged, convincing himself to brush it off. It was just Prowl's attitude; it was just how he was.

But then again…

Jazz really couldn't let it go.

Primus in the Pit, Christmas or no Christmas, he would get everyone into the spirit of December!

Even if it meant causing a little mayhem.

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_A/N: I will do my best to keep up the one drabble a day!_

_And about the 'slash might be implied', it all depends; do you want it? _]

_Merry Christmas!_


	2. Two decorators of doom

**25 days of Christmas**

**Second: Two decorators of doom**

When Ratchet started up from recharge that cycle, he knew something would go haywire with the day. He just _knew_.

As the twins had once said so blatantly; 'He's Hatchet-sense was tingling'.

He resisted the urge to peer carefully through the doorway, since he had to walk to the medical bay for duty, when his sensors worked in a sudden fit of paranoia. His sense of impending disaster only spiked when he actually saw the hallway.

Christmas decorations… _all over the place_.

"What in the Matrix…" he trailed off as he gazed at the overly large – if not beautifully done – evergreen painted on the wall across his quarters, the painting of the tree spotted with red, yellow and… other colors.

Shaking his head grumpily, having a pretty good idea who had done that, Ratchet locked the door to his quarters as he set out on his walk to the medical bay.

The growing amount of colorful festoons, Christmas flowers, painted elves on the walls, random placed garden gnomes and mistletoes should probably have warned the Chief Medical Officer. Should being the key word.

And he should probably have guessed something like _that_ would happen.

The second Ratchet stepped through the medical bay's doors he felt that cold, drenching – annoyingly familiar – feeling of wet paint getting dumped on him from above. He didn't say a word as he stared at his now green arms. Why _green_?!

A click and the sound of some sort of sprinkler began shortly, before stopping, leaving red spots all over the now green alloy of Ratchet. Damn that fast-drying paint!

And he just stared. They had put up a whole_ mechanism_?!

"Ah, Ratch'," A voice sounded from within the medical bay, merrily. "That's bad timing, I was just about to take it down."

Ratchet looked up to see Wheeljack, standing with some tools in his hands to take the paint mechanism down, being a new color himself. Pretty much all his white, grey and red armor had become oh so very green – and how he had managed to get red stripes was beyond Ratchet's understanding.

And then there was that larger, single spot of red on the engineer's facemask where the tip of his nose would be.

When Wheeljack's fins flashed brightly blue in a badly suppressed snicker, Ratchet – to put it mildly – snapped.

He turned on his heel, almost running out of the medical bay again, yelling loudly; "_SIDESWIPE!! SUNSTREAKER!!_"

How was he supposed to know there had been a third member in it this time?

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_A/N: Well, it would seem people want__ the pairings… Let me just say it won't be 'big stuff', so to speak. There might be mentioned other pairings too. We'll see. And one more thing; it'll be the first slash I write. But as I said; later on. I just want to begin the mayhem first. *cackles*_

_B__y the way, I'm open to suggestions._


	3. Three unexpected gifts

**25 days of Christmas**

**Third: Three ****unexpected gifts**

Prowl was sitting in his office, studying the message he had just received from Jazz with a raised optic ridge.

_- Heya Prowler__._

_Ya're Hound's Secret Santa. No gettin'__ outta it._

_Ya know the rules._

_The Jazz Man -_

Jazz had found the game on the internet, including the rules, and he had explained it to the crew one or two days ago, putting the information up on the board in the recreation room. He had made sure everyone had seen it, even the ones who did not care for the human traditions. And the saboteur had made sure that the voluntary game had become obligated.

But at least, Prowl mused, it explained why he had seen Wheeljack built his recent invention with new tools. And it would also explain the absolutely puzzling scene he had seen this morning, with the Dinobots, in their bipedal mode, walking down the hallway and in their hands carrying Dinobot-sized-fake-reindeer-antlers. Image complete with Bumblebee following beside them – almost having to jog – trying to explain to them what they were carrying. That the Dinobots didn't understand why in Primus' name they had received something like that from their Secret Santa was a completely different story.

It would also explain the rather odd… gift… Prowl had received this morning.

Yesterday, Ratchet had hunted down Sideswipe and Sunstreaker – the twins had roared loudly in laughter when they had seen the medic – and the medic had proceeded to throw various objects at the red and the golden warrior before sending them to the brig. There was just one little problem…

For the first time – something to record in the _Ark_'s history – the twins had claimed to be 'not guilty'. And for the first time there had been no evidence pointing at them as the pranksters. Sure they had admitted the insane amount of Christmas decorations suddenly appearing overnight, but not the coloring of the medic and the chief engineer. Furthermore, there was no problem with the decorations…

So Prowl couldn't just send them to the brig. Much to the medic's aggravation.

And the bow ornamented wrench now lying on Prowl's desk, promising future pain, made guessing his Secret Santa quite easy.

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_A/N: Who knew Ratchet could hold a grudge? Oh right, we did! 8D_

_Funny, the reviews seems to hold a steady plan of 'five per chapter'. I wonder if it'll continue._

_(And yes, all reviews are __**much appreciated**__!!)_


	4. Four joyful jingles

**25 days of Christmas**

**Fourth: Four joyful jingles**

"… Ya weren't kiddin' when ya said ya'd foun' many."

"What can I say, man, it's my thing."

"Lemme've a look… Try that one, looks promisin'."

"_Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock. Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring—_"

"… What a drag, I had hoped it would be rock 'n' roll, you know."

"Yeah, I getcha. Wha' 'bout that?"

"_You better watch out, you better not cry. You better not pout, I'm telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town—_"

"Know that song. I'm sure Red's gonna hate it. Play itta couple more times than tha others."

"You sure, man?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"This one, then."

"…_!!_"

"… No vocals, but it's solid rock, at least."

"Groovy."

"Next."

"_I don't want a lot for Christmas. There's just one thing I need. I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree. I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know. Make my wish come true. All I want for Christmas is you—_"

"… Heh, very usable."

"Really?"

"Primus, ya can be so thick-processored sumtimes."

"Arh, man, no need to hit the helmet!"

"_It's Christmastime. There's no need to be afraid — And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime. The greatest gift they'll get this year. Where nothing ever grows, no rain nor rivers flow. Do they know it's Christmastime at all?—_"

"'Do they know it's Christmas time at all'? Kinda fittin'."

"It's gonna be the first?"

"Nah, already gotta good idea whatsit gonna be."

"Why did we go through these then?"

"Hadda make sure there was nothin' better. Dun' think there'll be."

"Which one then?"

"That."

"Hm, I see why."

"And, ya know, naw too loud or anythin'."

"Com' on, once or twice?"

"Fine. 'Member, constant an' all that… You dig, Blaster?"

"I dig it, Jazz."

_C H R I S T M A S_

"_Snow is falling all around me. Children playing having fun__."_

Hound looked up from the energon cube he had been nursing for quite a while, and ended up staring at the ceiling since he couldn't really locate where the music came from.

The green mech had sort of expected the music for some time, since it was – of all Autobots – Jazz who was the one going Christmas-glitching. That there had been no music until the fourth of December was quite a wonder, really.

Drawing in a sigh of an intake, Hound picked up the gift he had received from his Secret Santa. It wasn't that he didn't like the present; he was actually overjoyed to find something like that tucked under the door to his quarters.

The small green, tree-shaped, flat, 'air freshener' dangled from one black digit. The humans called them 'Little Trees' – or was it 'Wunderbaum'? – and they were meant to give off a faint scent of something good, to quell any stenches.

"_It's the season of love and understanding._"

This one was giving off the scent of spruce, must to Hound's delight. Another one of those he had been given smelled of pine tree. Basically, they all had a fragrance of something from nature, and the green Autobot was glad that his Secret Santa had been so considered of what Hound would like. It wasn't just a half-afted gift.

Hound heaved another sigh, this time slightly annoyed, chin resting in the hand not holding the Little Tree. He really liked this gift, and he would have carried at least one around with him all the time…

There was just a tiny problem with that… Mirage did_ not_ like the new scents.

"_Merry Christmas everyone._"

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_A/N: Aw, poor Hound. Mirage doesn't like his new gift._

_On the other hand: C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!!!_

_I received eight reviews on chapter three, instead of the five 'predicted'! I love you guys_

_Music:_

Jingle bell rock

Santa Claus is coming to town

…!! = Carol of The Bells – Trans Siberian Orchestra

All I want for Christmas is you – Mariah Carey

Do they know it's Christmas? – Band Aid

Merry Christmas everyone – Shakin' Stevens

_By the way, I'm gonna answer the reviews when I post chapter five sometime tomorrow. Again, love you!_


	5. Five Dinodeer Disasters

**25 days of Christmas**

**Fifth: Five Dinodeer disasters**

"Me Grimlock not listen to you minibot!"

The roar was almost echoing in the hallway, originating from somewhere around the corner. Jazz curiously kept forward, a little surprised when a second later he heard a startled yelp from a minibot.

"Whoa! Chill, dude, I'm just saying." Beachcomber could be heard, followed by Bumblebee's try in calming the Dinobot down; "Yeah, cool your circuits, Grimlock. He just meant—"

"Me Grimlock not care!" The Dinobot leader then yelled.

Jazz crept around the corner and only managed to say a "Whu—" before he had to close his mouth to prevent any laughter from escaping. In the hallway stood Beachcomber and Bumblebee – the geologist a safe distance away from Grimlock – and before them stood the Dinobots, in their dinosaur form, with Grimlock in front. And they were wearing the reindeer antler things they had been given to them by their Secret Santa. Almost worse, or better, Grimlock seemed to have found some sort of red sack that he had pulled over the upper part of his snout.

"Yo, Little 'Bee, wha's goin' on?" Jazz asked, still doing his best to quell any snickering, as he walked up to the yellow bug. Beachcomber then decided to try whatever had made Grimlock angry again – bravely or stupidly, Jazz didn't know – and he started to explain something about organic matter and mammals as he stood in front of the larger Autobot. Bumblebee looked to his superior with an almost puzzled look, blinking a few times.

"Well…" he hesitated, blue optics back to the other minibot and the Dinobots. "The Dinobots as somehow convinced themselves that… that they're…"

Just that second – Jazz was certain it was something Blaster had planned – the soft Christmas caroling in the background changed to a new, louder song. The Autobots in the hallway all looked up, as if they could spot where the song came from.

"_Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose. And if you ever saw him, you would even say it glows—_"

"Me Grimlock Rudolph!" the Dinobot leader suddenly exclaimed, sounding almost proud.

And Jazz just burst out laughing.

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_A/N: And Beachcomber gave up trying to explain how that was not __possible._

_This idea was from Independent.C. (anonymous reviewer) and it was simply too good to pass. Thank you! :D _

_Does ANYONE know a Christmas song with the chorus going something like 'folks are saying clear, Christmas time is the best time of the year'__? I heard it two years ago, and it's driving me nuts that I can't find it!!_


	6. Six times taller

**25 days of Christmas**

**Sixth: Six times taller **

It all started out with Mirage calling Hound, sounding a little baffled and stunned, asking Hound to come to the recreation room. Hound, confused by Mirage puzzlement, quickly left his quarters and walked to the rec room to see the Ligier stand and stare at… Hound stopped short, staring himself.

An enormous evergreen coniferous tree was standing in the middle of the room. The scent of fresh wood _inside_ the _Ark_ was completely new to the inhabitants, and Hound couldn't help but think that now Mirage probably wouldn't complain about the scout's Little Trees.

Still perplexed and not taking his optics off the tree, Mirage asked what in the Matrix it was doing inside the recreation room.

Hound answered that he had absolutely no idea. Mirage gave him a skeptical look to which the green Autobot only shrugged. Even if he had wanted to, he continued to explain, there was no way he could drag a giant tree inside.

The tree was indeed one of the bigger ones Hound had seen. It was taller than both the scout and the spy, and though it didn't stand as tall as Optimus it would easily top most of the Autobots. And to the minibots it was almost too high.

Bluestreak arrived next, intending to grab a cube after his finished patrol. He forgot all about the energon the second he saw the tree, which actually managed to keep him speechless for a while. Then he started asking question no one could answer. How had it gotten there? Who did it? How did they manage to get it through the _Ark_, to the recreation room,unnoticed? Hound shrugged; they didn't know.

Then Bumblebee and Spike arrived ("Sure it's by coincidence…" Hound had smiled) and both were awed by the sheer size of the tree. Spike almost lost his balance and fell on his behind as he tried to see the top.

And then Spike explained what the humans used the evergreens for in the winter. Decorating.

Bluestreak suddenly called, doorwings twitching excitedly; he had found a big box behind the tree. Hound didn't even have to guess to know what was in it; Cybertonian-sized Christmas decorations.

So the Autobots decided to beautify the big tree. Mirage less enthusiastically than the others.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker arrived next; Sideswipe happily joining in on the decorating and Sunstreaker standing behind, commenting on the choice of color on the green tree.

Prowl stood in the doorway a second later, but he simply studied the situation silently before turning on his heel and leaving. Party pooper, Sideswipe called after him.

Ratchet and Wheeljack – still so very green themselves, since the paint remover had magically disappeared – and Ratchet sat to watch as Wheeljack joined.

Jazz, Ironhide, Huffer – not being a so pessimistic for once – and Optimus joined the amused watchers while Inferno, Windcharger, Cliffjumper – yes, him too – and Fireflight joined the decorators.

Music was still chiming, quietly in the background. Prowl had told Blaster to stop the music a couple of times already, but he never did.

"_Rockin' around the Christmas Tree at the Christmas party hop. Mistletoe hung where you can see; every couple tries to stop—_"

There was laughter, chatting and joyful comments flying around the recreation room. Sideswipe constantly hung up the complete opposite of the colors Sunstreaker told him that would fit. Windcharger stood on Inferno's shoulders and together they reached the uppermost branches.

"_You will get a sentimental feeling when you hear voices singing 'Let's be jolly; deck the halls with boughs of holly'—_"

Bumblebee and Spike were discussing with Wheeljack how to get power to the Christmas tree to light up the string lights. The inventor's blue fins were flashing merrily as he chuckled when Fireflight hung a blue bauble on one of the yellow minibot's horns. Cliffjumper laughed along.

"_Rocking around the Christmas tree. Have a happy holiday. Everyone's dancing merrily—_"

Optimus felt honored when Spike said that he should put up the star up at the top to finish off the decorating. The leader's light blue optics scanned his soldiers who all nodded back to him; some smiling, other smirking.

"_In a new old fashioned way_—"

The Christmas tree was shining now. Baubles in all the colors possible, string lights, paper cones with energon sweets, small angels, drums, garlands, bows. It was so messy, unorganized, there was no plan or theme, everyone had just put up what they thought would look nice. And the star shone at the very top of it all.

It was messy, but… they were all so proud of it.

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_A/N: Not a mayhem chapter, really… Hope you like either way._

_And thanks for all the help I received about the song. I finally found it – Christmas Time by DJ Otzi. Check it out, it's good._

_I really enjoyed writing this chapter, actually. Hope it can leave a warm, fuzzy feeling for all my beloved readers._


	7. Seven Santa's hats

**25 days of Christmas**

**Seventh: Seven Santa's ****hats**

Red Alert searched the monitors with his blue optics, trying to keep track of a certain Autobot saboteur in the hallways. He had learned that keeping track of the Christmas-glitching mech was a rather good idea. Especially after Jazz had convinced his fellow night-duty 'bots to drag a giant evergreen into the _Ark_.

A _tree_!

Red Alert had seen him get help from Grapple, Hoist _and_ Grimlock to carry, drag, push, the tree to the recreation room silently enough for no one to hear. And Red Alert had reported it to Optimus, who had chuckled warmly, _chuckled_, before telling the security director that it was nothing to worry about.

The Pit it wasn't!

Who knew what kind of Decepticon infestation that could be in that organic thing! Laserbeak could hide amongst the branches and come out in recharge hours for all they knew. Of course he had Teletraan-1 run a Decepticon signature scan and the computer had found nothing, but that was beside the point…

So Red Alert kept an online optic on the saboteur at all times, though at the moment he had lost sight of him. Well, Jazz wasn't a saboteur for nothing.

The door to the monitor room hissed open, and Red heard some familiar heavy steps. He turned in his chair and saw Inferno enter, but there was something off.

"What is _that_?!" Red Alert exclaimed, pointing on the red and white helmet ornament – or did the humans call it a hat? – which looked like it had been forced over a too big helmet.

"Well, uh," Inferno seemed almost hesitant, hand on the back of his head, "Ah thin' the humans call itta Santa's hat…"

Red Alert had a puzzling look on his faceplate. "Take it off, so we can get back to work. I will not have those traditions in here."

"… Ah can't really do that…" Inferno said sheepishly "Ya see, Jazz kinda… glued it on…"

Red Alert stared. He stared for a couple of clicks before he broke down laughing, so uncharacteristically that Inferno almost did a double take.

The paranoid, strict, security director was laughing. It hadn't really helped that he had seen through the corner of his optics on one of the monitors, just the second Inferno had explained himself, Jazz – simply put – jump up on Optimus' back, cramming something over the blue helmet before jumping down and running away with a gleeful grin on his face. It hadn't really helped to see Optimus helplessly trying to tug the Cybertronian-sized Santa's hat off.

And while Red Alert laughed, intakes hitching for control (and cursing whoever had put something in his last energon cube, because it wasn't _that_ funny), Inferno's surprised expression gave away for a growing joyous grin. Seeing Red laugh was beyond wonderful.

_C H R I S T M A S_

A couple of Earth hours later, Jazz received a quite big present from his Secret Santa. He chuckled, now certain who his Secret Santa was. And he rather enjoyed that he had been able to help loosen some of Red's Christmas tension.

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_A/N: Ahh, a lovely little Red and Inferno chapter… Hope I didn't mess up Inferno's speech too bad._

_And I'm almost starting to regret taking this self-made challenge XD one chapter a day is tough, even if it is drabbles. You better enjoy it!_

_*whispers* and leave a review on your way out._


	8. Eight confusing clothing

**25 days of Christmas**

**Eighth: Eight confusing clothing**

The hallways were fairly empty this time a morning. The Autobots with night duty were sleeping it out; others had patrol or monitor duty and then there was the general slackers who spent their time in the recreation room. So when Prowl was walking down the orange hallway, once again grasping the deeper meaning of the story on his datapad, he wouldn't have to worry about bumping into a mech time and time again.

Though he did spot, albeit absently, a minibot walking towards him from the other end of this hallway. The yellow and red minibo— wait, what?

Prowl stopped, looking up with a confused frown, and truthfully the minibot was yellow and red. Odd, Prowl thought, because he didn't recall the _Ark _getting any new recruits and no one of the minibots on base was yellow _and_ red. But that helmet looked very familiar.

"Bumblebee?" Prowl questioned, keeping the confusion off his vocalizer. The minibot – yes, that really was Bumblebee – stopped in front of the second-in-command and smiled widely.

"Hey Prowl," Bumblebee said cheerfully. "I was just going to the rec room. Want to join?"

But the tactician didn't really hear him, because he was studying the red and slightly white – rather fluffy looking – clothing Bumblebee had on, together with a similar looking red hat to what Optimus had been wearing since yesterday. Not only that, the minibot's stabilizing servos had for some reason been painted black.

"What _are_ you wearing?" Prowl asked, this time not keeping the slight confusion from his voice. Bumblebee blinked a few time, as if confused himself, and looked down his frame.

He looked up, an optic ridge raised now. "What are you talking about?"

Prowl's frown deepened. "That," he said, pointing at the red and white jacket thing, "Why are you wearing that."

Bumblebee tilted his head, looking both confused and a bit concerned. "I'm not wearing anything…"

"What do you mean you're not wearing anything?" Prowl was getting a little annoyed. "The red clothing, Bumblebee, explain it."

"Uh… Seriously, I'm not wearing any red… I'm still all yellow and black, Prowl," Bumblebee said after looking down himself again.

"But you are red too," Prowl persisted.

"I'm not."

"You _are._"

"No, I'm not."

"You are! This is not funny, Bumblebee," the tactician said in his sternest tone possible.

"No, it's not," Bumblebee agreed, optic ridges furrowed in confusion, concern and a bit of annoyance. "Maybe you should go get a checkup? You're not making much sense."

"But…" This caught the second-in-command a little speechless. Bumblebee _was_ wearing red… right?

"Go have Ratchet check your optical sensors," Bumblebee said, before shrugging off the confusion and smiling again. "Well then, I'll just be off to the rec room. See you around."

And with that, the yellow – and red! – minibot walked past Prowl, heading towards the recreation room. Prowl stared after him, bewildered. It was honestly a wonder that his logic center didn't crash right there and then, but that was simply because Prowl had convinced himself that it was already fried.

Fried quite badly even, because on his way to the medical bay Prowl saw Windcharger and Brawn; wearing similar red suits.

_C H R I S T M A S_

It was only when he arrived to the recreation room that Bumblebee let himself burst out laughing.

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_A/N: I think I found this joke somewhere on the internet last year… or maybe it was a dream?_

_Anyways, this time I was actually giggling too while writing it. It was a lot of fun 8D And yes, it was a Santa suit 'Bee was wearing._

_And yes, the numbers of the chapters may not make sense with the chapter anymore… It's simply getting too difficult to find anything adding up with eight in this chapter. 'One sticky heart' and 'Two decorators of doom' amongst others were easy… The larger numbers are not! XD_

_Hope you enjoy!_


	9. Nine packed packages

**25 days of Christmas**

**Ninth: Nine packed packages**

It was a quiet morning in town. Not many people were out this time a morning, the streets were quiet, the occasional car hurried past without taking a real good look around. But what was there to look at? Buildings? Street cats?

"Why the hell do we've ta do this now?" a young male voice rang out, followed by a huff and a thump as the male placed something on the floor of the delivery van. "It's effing early in the mornin', man!"

"Shaddup, Jerry!" a harsher voice responded, "We jus' 'ave ta do this, then we'll 'ave the rest o' the day off!"

The grey, dull delivery van, parked by a larger storage building, could hold a large amount of the big cardboard boxes that the younger of the two humans kept carrying inside of it – even though big, the boxes were surprisingly light. As they were piled, neatly and securely, the two men kept discussing. Sometimes it was about the delivery, other times about the younger one's newest girlfriend or the older one's non-existent love life – a subject the owner of that life was not thrilled to discuss.

"Whu' the hell is this?" The younger one, Jerry, suddenly exclaimed from inside the van. "Who needs this, Tex?!"

"Hey, Wha' did I tell ya about lookin' in the goods!" the other, Tex, yelled. "An' enuff with the 'hell', ya soun' like a broken record!"

"Whatever, man," Jerry grumbled as he stepped out of the van, closing it up. He then walked to the front and entered on the passenger's side. Tex, a man in the late thirties with brown hair and stubbles on his chin, was seated by the wheel. Jerry, early twenties, ran a hand through his dirty blond hear, looking confused. "Christmas decorations… Freakin' huge Christmas decorations… Who _needs_ that?!" he repeated.

Tex grumbled something, a toothpick between his teeth – Jerry had told him to drop the toothpick because it was terribly cliché – and just handed the youngster a piece of paper before starting up the engine. Jerry glanced on the paper and gaped. He did so for several streets, actually.

"The _Autobots_?! Whu— You serious?" The boy certainly did seem to brighten.

"Dead serious," Tex just huffed, raising an eyebrow at the widening grin he saw on Jerry's face.

They drove in silence, pretty much the whole way – something Tex wasn't overly used to, because Jerry was quite the chatter when he was bored. And when they arrived, they parked somewhat near the entrance of the _Ark_ – they couldn't park directly in front; it was hazardous to their health and to the security director's, Tex had been told – and by then, the kid seemed almost _jumpy_.

Getting out of the van, Tex almost collided with a huge pair of black and white feet – or servos, whatever…

"Hey, man, that's wha' I think it is?" a metallic voice accompanied the servos a second later. Tex looked up to see a huge grin on a robot's face, blue visor glinting delighted.

"Yes," Tex said, scratching his hair as he stared up on the 'costumer'. "Special deliv'ry from Customize Your Christmas. I'll jus' sen' the bill digitally…" Like he was gonna get huge alien robots to do the 'sign here, please'.

"Sweet," the robot – though the right term was Cybertronian or mech – hummed, before pretty much tipping the whole van to get the cargo unto the hand he had flattened on the ground behind the vehicle – Tex had opened to the cargo beforehand, he already knew how impatient the Autobots could be – and he stored it subspace. "Thanks, Tex!" he said before jogging off to something to the side of the _Ark_.

Jerry stumbled out of the van and stared with wide eyes after the Autobot saboteur. "That… That was Jazz! Howd'ya know _Jazz_?!" the young man spluttered.

"Done a c'uple o' deliv'ries," Tex shrugged, before beginning to walk in the same direction as Jazz had run – he was simply curious. "Wouldn't take ya fo' a fan…" he then said with raised eyebrows.

Jerry followed the older one in the walk. "Well… they're freakin' alien robots… Kinda hard not to be," he said sheepishly.

Tex huffed an agreement, though he fell a little mute when the two humans rounded the corner of the _Ark_, so to speak because it was only the corner of the spaceship that had blocked the view of what was going on closer to the mountain. "Wha' they doin'?" the oldest sounded perplexed.

"Uh…" Jerry said, squinting to be certain. "Looks like they're decoratin' Omega Supreme…"

"Do ya know all the names?" Tex suddenly muttered, looking amused as he turned his eyes to the younger.

"… Why's that important? They're _decoratin' _Omega!" – and looking like they were having a blast doing it, Tex admitted. Hearing rather loud Christmas music too.

"… _All_ the names?"

"… Yes…"

"… Fanboy."

Jerry threw up his hands, "So what?!" drawing a short guffaw from his companion.

--------------

_A/N: Okay, I do realize that this was probably a stupid, interlude chapter, but for some reason none of the others ideas seemed fit to write yet… I dunno, maybe I'm just tired._

_But you, -permanentlyonfire-, I KNOW you wondered about where they get the stuff. There you have it, from CYC – Customize Your Christmas… I didn't know either a short while ago, actually. This chapter grew like weed… Totally uncontrollable…_

_Tomorrow, though, I've got several good chapter-ideas. But always open for more (c'mon guys, I gotta fill out 25, I've only got 15 ideas so far!)_

_*coughs* And by the way, I effing love you guys! My god, I've only posted 8 chapters and I've gotten *43* reviews! That stuff is my fuel!! (and yes, could always use more fuel *hint hint*)_


	10. Ten stuffed stockings

**25 days of Christmas**

**Tenth: Ten stuffed stockings**

The respond had come as quick and upbeat as the caller had expected. "_Heya, Percy! Whassup?_"

Perceptor, brilliant scientist as he was, found himself repeating and simplifying what he had just said. It really was no use talking like he normally did when talking to Jazz, the scientist thought with a sigh; the saboteur had simply repeated his cheerful greeting like he hadn't heard Perceptor the first time. "Hello Jazz, would you please be so kind to tell me why there is an oversized human sock hanging on my door?" he tried again, doing as mentioned; simplifying it. "Since it would seem you have become the expert on this particular season."

"_Why, of course, Percy,_" Jazz sounded downright smug over the communication link, obviously pleased that he had the scientist slow down. "_It's a Christmas stocking._"

Perceptor, of course trying to satisfy his endless thirst for knowledge, had already studied the slightly fluffy red body of the sock, with the _extremely_ fluffy blue cuff, hanging on the door by nail. A _nail_. But he could not see its function yet. _Why was it there?_

Except anything you might expect, Perceptor, and also Wheeljack whose quarter was further down the hallway – where there by the way was hanging another Christmas stocking, this one white and green – were _not_ the kind of Cybertronians who rebooted easily out of recharge. They were not 'morning person' as the humans said. Why one didn't know that? Simply because they recharged oh so very little, and even rarer recharged in their own quarters – they fell asleep in the working areas – but when they were finally dragged out of their respective laboratories and were forced to a full night's recharge, system trying to catch up with the missing, they came to realize this themselves. Waking up in your quarters after eight to nine hours of fitful sleep and still feeling so drained. Not morning 'bot.

And Perceptor was not up to this right now. "If you wouldn't mind continuing…"

"_Well, it basic'ly goes like this,_" Jazz then did continue, "_didya try lookin' _inside_ the stocking?_"

"Oh…" No, he hadn't thought of that yet. Digging down the sock, he pulled out a small cube filled with, what appeared to be, different organic plants Perceptor had not seen before. He hummed, interested, and Jazz read quite a lot out of that sound.

"_Glad ya like it, Percy,_" Jazz said merrily "_I've ta go, see ya 'round._" And he cut off the communication.

Perceptor stood there for a long time, microscope on his shoulder zooming in on a small, red flower he was unfamiliar with. His attention was drawn from the analyzes he thought of doing when a door further up the hallway opened, leading to a larger, specially built, laboratory, and out walked Skyfire.

"Oh, uh, Skyfire!" Perceptor called out, waving a hand to get the larger Autobot's attention. Skyfire turned, careful not to scrape his wings on the walls – good thing this hallway was wider than the rest; also the reason why Skyfire's lab had been placed there – and he smiled somewhat tiredly to Perceptor. Another long night drowning in research.

"Yes?"

Perceptor hesitated. "Oh… Never mind, you look tired. I think recharge would be just the right thing for you at the moment."

"I think so too, thank you," the jet answered before turning around and going for the outdoor area where he could recharge properly. He never slept inside the _Ark_ for some reason.

Perceptor tilted his head and studied the white and red stocking possibly _glued_ to the larger scientist's one wing. What could he say, the color did fit.

--------------

_A/N: Somebody __should confiscate the glue from Jazz, seriously._

_These 'drabbles' are quite long for drabbles, aren't they? Would you believe that some of them actually take one or two hours to write? I can't believe I have to do research for most of them… I guess I'm a bit of a picky writer; I want the characters to be _just_ right, ya know._

_Thank you very much for all those cool ideas! And I have this vague memory that the Christmas stocking was also an idea I had received?_

_Anyways, I have a question to ask all my lovely readers: How do you – and yes, I'm talking to _you_ – celebrate Christmas? If it had been according to Denmark's – my country – traditions, this would've been called '24 days of Christmas' (the 25__th__ is the day where you totally chill and tries to overcome all you've eaten, that day is not really considered Christmas). But this is not just how you do it in your country (though I would very much like to hear about that too) but how you, personally, like – or don't like, whatever flow your bucket – to celebrate Christmas!_

_Please, do tell me! (and terribly sorry for the growing length of these Author Notes) _


	11. Eleven collapsing comrades

**25 days of Christmas**

**Eleventh: Eleven ****collapsing comrades**

It was that time on the Earth month. Normally it was something Red Alert looked forward to. He could recharge properly for one night after it had been done and if it was up to him he would do it every day.

Of course, the rest of the crew would be less than happy if the alarm check would interrupt them every single day. So once a month was what they had decided. Though it was a bit of a compromise, since Ratchet and Ironhide had both said that once every half year would do just fine.

Right, like the paranoid security director would ever agree with that.

This month, however, was different, because Red Alert had that sinking feeling he got whenever he was certain that he was walking into a trap – or in this case a prank. The happy-go-lucky mechs of the _Ark_ seemed like they all had gone way overboard with the pranks this month, Jazz and Sideswipe especially.

Announcing the base-wide alarm check, Red Alert glanced shortly to the security monitors. No one had reacted in any suspicious way, though it didn't help the feeling of incoming doom.

Within the next ten Earth minutes, different kinds of howls of alarms sounded throughout the base. There was the seeker alert, inbound enemy attack, fire alarm, engine monitor alarm, core monitor alarm, Wheeljack alarm – as it had been named –, hazardous outside conditions, Red Alert's personal security room alarm in case he would ever get trapped in there with problems (on one monitor he saw Inferno jump instinctually), and the infiltrator/hacker alarm.

That done, Red Alert hesitated to initiate the last three alarms – the ones spoken in Teletraan 1's monotone voice. By then he had expected half of the alarm to break out into joyous Christmas songs, but nothing had happened so far. Maybe he had been too suspicious this time.

Though seconds later, all his monitors showed Autobots crumbling in laughter at the three alarms:

"_**Elves on base! Elves on base!**_"

"_**Christmas Alert: Mistletoe approaching!**_"

"_**Ho ho ho! Deceptignome activity!**_"

And then the fourth:

"WHO CHANGED MY ALARMS?!!"

--------------

_A/N: And Red Alert never found out who did it (Jazz pointed at Sideswipe and Sideswipe pointed at Jazz, damn them)!_

_I very much enjoy reading how__ everyone enjoys Christmas, and if I had some more time I would go into deeper research about all those kind of different traditions in different religions. It's quite fascinating._

_By the way, on DeviantArt, try searching 'Transformers Christmas' and the second most popular should be an animation by Shy-Light… Lookie, it's decorated Omega! 8D (and to everyone's notice, I had that idea before I found that animation)__._


	12. Twelve times

**25 days of Christmas**

**Twelfth: Twelve**** times- and Sunstreaker finally snapped and stuffed the rhymes down my throat. Party pooper**

"The last one was not funny."

"Aw, c'mon Sunny, you were the one to get them into it in the first place."

"That was fake antlers, Sideswipe. Antlers!"

"Was still your idea."

"Well, you sent them reindeer guidelines."

"Admit it you thought that was hilarious too."

"That's beside the point." A growl. "The last was. not. funny!"

"Why not?!"

"Because _Sludge_ chased me through half the _Ark _with that mistletoe _you_ send the _Dinobots_!!"

Sideswipe stopped in the hallway, staring at his yellow twin with a bemused look – which quickly changed to a large grin and a chortle, earning the red one a death glare from Sunstreaker.

"It's _not_ funny!"

Sideswipe let loose a full-blown laughter.

"Primusdammit, Sideswipe! You send them _mistletoe guidelines_!" Sunstreaker exclaimed, throwing out his arms. "Sludge was convinced that he _had_ to _kiss_ every 'bot getting too close to him, or someone would explode! Kept muttering something about dividing by zero."

"Good thing you're," snicker, "fast, then."

"Yeah well, Ironhide wasn't so lucky."

Sunstreaker practically downed the poor red frontliner with that one, the laughter echoing in the empty hallway. By the time Sideswipe finally managed to control his laughing, Sunstreaker stood, stabilizer servo tapping impatiently.

"You shouldn't have sent them mistletoe, because this can only escalate."

"Oh yeah, how so?" Sideswipe was grinning widely and clearly amused.

"The whole kissing under the mistletoe will spread… Ugh, remind me to stay away from that stupid plant…"

"You mean like this one?"

And suddenly Sideswipe was holding that dreaded plant way within Sunstreaker's personal bubble. The yellow warrior didn't even have time to protest before the red twin stole a peck on the tip of Sunstreaker's nose.

Sunstreaker gaped, stunned, giving Sideswipe enough time to turn around and run like Unicron was in his heels though he was laughing loudly at the same time.

The twin suddenly snapped out of it. "_Sideswipe,_ you fragger!" he yelled, darting after him. "Get back here so I can slag you!!"

_C H R I S T M __A S_

Smirking, Red Alert saved the security recording under the folder called 'Blackmail'.

--------------

_A/N: RUN, THE DINOBOTS ARE HERE!!!_

_Okay, I'll admit that when I began this chapter I was all: "But I'd rather draaaaw Q _Q" For the first time, I didn't really feel up to writing it. But kicking my heels together and slapping myself awake, I started and in the end I enjoyed writing this one as well ^_ _^_

_MISTLETOE! You know you want it! And it's not the end of it! And halfway to Christmas!!_

… _Poor Ironhide…_


	13. Thirteen monitors watching

**25 days of Christmas**

**Thirteenth: Thirteen ****monitors watching**

"Are ya really savin' that?"

"Yes, that should be obvious, Inferno…"

"Bu' it was jus' a peck."

"It was still Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. 'Just a peck' is not normal for them."

"Ah woul' understan' if it was a prop'r kiss…"

Red Alert sighed in slight annoyance. "I'll save it either way. And would you please not get so close…"

Inferno grinned. "Aw, c'mon, Red." The fire truck was leaning over Red Alert's shoulder, and the security director squirmed slightly in his chair as Inferno placed his head just beside Red's – or at least as well as he could manage with his helmet design. Inferno had stared along when the twins' little 'chat' had taken place, and chuckled when Sideswipe had made the daring move.

Currently the twins were running through the _Ark_, yellow after red, Inferno could see on some of the other monitors.

When Red Alert realized that Inferno wasn't going to remove his head, he sighed and began typing away on the keyboard, losing himself in his work.

"Wha' woul' ya say issa proper kiss, then?" Inferno asked casually.

Red Alert didn't take his optics off his work. "Hm… A kiss on the lips, I would guess," he answered absently.

"Ya picky, eh?" the fire truck grinned. Red Alert just rolled his optics.

Shortly after, Inferno removed his head from Red's shoulder and the Lamborghini rolled that shoulder as if to sort out a stiffness in the joint. But he didn't stop his work.

Not even when Inferno said; "Hey, Red, look up."

"Inferno," Red Alert sighed tiredly, "would you please get back to work?"

"C'mon, jus' look up. Then I'll work, promise."

Grumbling something inaudible under his intake, Red Alert tipped his head back to look up and stared right up at a mistletoe plant. A strange sense of déjà-vu crawled its way into Red Alert's processor (he had seen this before, he was sure) as Inferno's black helmet and bright blue optics obscured his view and soft lips placed a peck on his own.

A peck— No, wait, a _kiss_!

Red Alert was staring at the ceiling when Inferno removed himself, his optics wide and almost white in surprise and… something else. Which gave Inferno plenty of time to saunter out of the security room, probably feeling rather pleased with himself.

The room was silent, together with Red Alert's CPU. He wasn't thinking that it was a trick, a plan to get rid of him, or anything like that; it was just silent.

He tipped his head back to face the monitors, but he didn't really see them.

A kiss…

Touching his lips softly with a digit, in a sort of remembrance of the… kiss… Red Alert's CPU struggled to decide whether he should be confused or giggle like a femme. And since the last wasn't really anything he would do, _ever_, he settled with confused.

A bit pleased though.

--------------

_A/N: __And Inferno was humming the rest of the day…_

_Dear Lord, I almost forgot to write this… I was just thinking of going to bed (time difference, remember that, guys) when I suddenly remembered. Phew. And more mistletoe fluff for you!_

_Actually, I really did want to include some other holiday traditions in this chapter (Knocks told me about a Jewish one__, __Hanukkah, and I wanted to make that into something fun) but to do that, I would have to do deeper research (I don't really do half-assed stuff) and I simply haven't got the time D: But maybe later…_

_Grah, I curse larger school assignments down the Pit!!_

_P.S We cut down our Christmas tree today 8D__ Now it's all ready to get decorated!_


	14. Fourteen colored letters

**25 days of Christmas**

**Fourteenth: Fourteen ****colored letters**

The increasingly chilling winds and the trees' lose of the green – or red – covering was the only indicators of a season change in this area. Or at least the only ones that Decepticon Laserbeak knew of. Though it was getting colder, it wasn't really a problem for the condor. Actually, it was barely noticeable for his sensors.

The mission was like any other mission Laserbeak got – eavesdropping on the Autobots, because Soundwave had picked up a human radio frequency that told about some… odd activities around the Autobot base. Megatron had immediately dispatched the cassetticon to check that the Autobots weren't plotting and building some new super weapon, because then the Decepticons would have to go steal it.

So Laserbeak was hovering high above the half-covered spaceship, undetected, as he scanned two new occurrences that he had not seen before.

Omega Supreme, the extremely large Autobot in comparison to the condor, was standing motionless beside the _Ark_, being so many other colors than usual. A lot of green plants were also stuck to his alloy, along with a vast color array of blinking lights on a string. Recording that to further use, Laserbeak turned his optics to the spaceship's entrance. Because that too had a lot of blinking lights attached around the actual entrance.

And then there was this huge, white banner where something was written on in big, bold, red and green letters. The first word Laserbeak did recognize, the second he didn't.

_MERRY_ was the first word. Laserbeak spelled through the second word, saving it in his databank for further analysis. _C-R-I-S-T-M-A-S-!_

It was new and it was rather odd, so Laserbeak determined that maybe that was what the Autobots were planning. It was enough information for now, so he turned around in the air and flew back to the Decepticon base.

--------------

_A/N: DU DU DUUUUUN!!_

… _We were making some sort of Christmas cookies today, and I got to create Optimus' and Jazz' head in the dough; shaped mostly like round __orbs with Optimus' mask and Jazz' visor and horns on… Unfortunately, they melted in the oven. And are now just two melted cookie heaps, one with Jazz' horns still on top. I laughed so hard when I saw that._

_And yes, Merry Christmas! does form 14 letters WITH the exclamation mark!_


	15. Fifteen baaing sheep

**25 days of Christmas**

**Fifteenth: Fifteen ****baaing sheep**

It was no longer possible to move outside your quarters and _not_ bump into something Christmas related. It had become a determined fact on the base, and that was something Prowl's processor was just getting used to. The green plants – fir or something – hanging on the walls and from the ceilings, decorated with red flowers and bows along with many other colors. The walls were also painted with Christmas symbols – and Prowl couldn't wait to put the twins on cleaning duty – and several of the Autobots were wearing Santa hats or other kind of odd clothing and trinkets. And their entrance had also become quite colorful, though the banner had been sloppy work and had had to be corrected by adding an extra '_H'._

Prowl had also confirmed that Bumblebee was _indeed_ wearing red, and the yellow minibot had earned several extra patrols for that stunt.

Now, as the tactician was walking towards the recreation room, he was convinced that there was no longer any sort of weird Christmas tradition that could surprise him. He had read up on it actually, and though some of the traditions remained yet seen on base, Prowl was sure he _couldn't_ be surprised.

A weird noise reached his audio receptors as he neared the recreation room. It was rather loud, and there was more than one of them. Tuning in on one of the noises, Prowl determined that it sounded like 'baaa', though he had no idea wh—

Entering the room, the second in command stopped in the doorway, dumbfounded. The largest table in the room had been turned into a… fold possibly, and several white, fluffy organic creatures – later specified as sheep – were standing around in the fold, baaing for no particular reason. In the middle of the table was what could best be described as a small hut – almost human-sized even – and it was decorated with soft lights, stray and human-sized statues (no, wait, that was a disgruntled looking Spike dressed in a cape, with a staff and carrying a small box). Prowl, luckily having done his homework, recognized it.

A nativity scene.

And Prowl knew he had to ask. "Jazz…" he said over the baaing, sounding annoyed. "What are they doing here?" He meant both the statues and the sheep.

Jazz looked up, trying to quell a growing grin. He threw out his arms, almost hitting Beachcomber who had been studying the sheep curiously. "I had ta let 'em stay here," the saboteur exclaimed dramatically, "there was no room a' the inn!"

Prowl didn't react. At least he tried not to.

A doorwing twitched. Unfortunately, Jazz knew Prowl well enough to read that and the grin grew.

Prowl turned on his heel and quickly left the recreation room, the purpose of going there in the first place forgotten.

Jazz turned to face Beachcomber who had looked along with a half-smile. The third in command placed his hands on his hips with a sigh.

"Dang, almost had 'im."

--------------

_A/N: So close, Jazz. So close._

_Uh, yeah, the Cristmas typo in the last chapter was totally on purpose! *cough* Last minute save, everyone? XD_

_No Decepticons yet. Soon. Sooooon! Bwahahaha! *clears throat* Yeah, got nothing profound to say today…_

_Please review?_


	16. Sixteen little traditions

**25 days of Christmas**

**Sixteenth: Sixteen little traditions**

Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, had been watching the _Ark_ slowly but steadily succumb to all Christmas chaos. Not that it wasn't amusing to watch, because it truly was. It was all the extra little details that grew by the days that made the leader chuckle with mirth as he oversaw all those little interactions between his soldiers and comrades – there were still Autobots who were surprised by the Santa hat he wore. It was indeed a jolly time, and so far there had not been one attack all December, so just maybe there wouldn't be one this month.

It would be a blessing.

But of course, Optimus thought as he moved towards the command room, they were always ready if it came to yet another fight. Even if Christmas was supposed to be the time of love, they would never expect the Decepticons to know any such things.

And like the Decepticons should not be forgotten, likewise shouldn't the other traditions in this merry time. Because unlike the Cybertronians, who were not very religious in the time of war, the humans had a vast array of religious holidays and traditions that all mixed and intertwined in the time span of one single human year.

Optimus had done as any good alien-leader-crashlanding-on-habituated-planet and read up an all those religions – he had also learned there that the humans were easily insulted when speaking of their believes.

Entering the Teletraan operation room, slightly surprised to not see anyone there, he stalked over to the computer. While waiting for Teletraan-1 to finish the daily scans of the vicinity and interior of the _Ark_, Optimus took from subspace a double branched candle holder – a bit small for him – and he lit the two candles it was holding with one of those small gadgets you just knew could come in handy sometime.

And Optimus knew he would add another light the next seven days. If the rest of the Autobots didn't know what the candles were for that was their problem.

Though entering the same room some hours afterwards, Optimus was surprised to see Spike and Carly, in the company of Bumblebee and Beachcomber, roast marshmallows over the – in comparison to the humans – big fire.

Apparently they didn't know their own religions very well either.

--------------

_A/N: And now Optimus know… And knowing is half the battle!_

_Yeah, I know this one is quite later than usual, but I have a huge assignment to finish. So if this is a little sloppy work, forgive me. Tomorrow carries the same risk of sloppiness. Again, my apologies._

_Other traditions, they deserve attention too._

_And it's snowing really bad outside. I might get a white Christmas *heart* _


	17. Seventeen flabbergasted faces

**25 days of Christmas**

**Seventeenth: Seventeen flabbergasted faces**

Optimus had jinxed the Autobots.

It was as simple as that. Jinxed. What else could it be? He had just thought the words 'Decepticons' and 'not attacking' in the same sentence, and there they were, getting ready for an upcoming battle the next day. Optimus grumbled silently, helplessly trying to tug the Santa hat off, but the glue _really_ stuck. Admitted, the hat did not bother him that much, but the mere thought of fighting Megatron while wearing it was… well, odd.

And not taking the complications of the other crewmembers. This was December, a month Jazz had proclaimed chilling time, and now – like always – they had to fight.

It was… tiresome, at least.

Red Alert announced over the communication link that the Decepticons were ETA ten minutes. And as Optimus walked towards the entrance of the _Ark _all he could hope for was no casualties.

_C H R I S T M A S_

To say that this fight started out… different than normally would be an understatement. As the Decepticons landed some way from the _Ark_, the Autobots ready to intercept, Megatron barely managed to begin his usual; "I know what you're planning" and the "You can't hide it from me" and of course the obligatory "Give it up, Prime!" Which, of course, was all very confusing to the Autobot leader because as far as he knew, they hadn't been planning to overthrow the Decepticons with some mastermind plan this month…

However Megatron, surprisingly, cut himself short when he actually saw the Autobots. First sign that something was off was the decoration on Optimus' helmet. Actually, several of the Autobots wore such red and white decoration, Inferno was one of them along with Trailbreaker. Several of the minibots wore red suits of some sort, confusing the Decepticons even more – though Megatron heard someone snicker behind him. Whether it was Skywarp or one of the cassetticon twins, he didn't know.

Eerie silence stretched as the Decepticons stared slack-jawed, some trying to quell laughing, at the phenomenon in front of them. More of Megatron's minions joined in on the snickering when Wheeljack and Ratchet were seen. When the Dinobots arrived to the scene, in their dinosaur modes and still with the accessories, Skywarp – apparently the only one who had really done his homework – spluttered in a failed attempt to stop the roaring laughter that escaped him a second later. Several of the Decepticons joined him when Beachcomber a second later ran around behind the Autobots, trying to catch escapee sheep.

Megatron could just turn on his heel and stare furiously at his soldiers as one after another succumbed to an infectious laugh. In the end, only a few 'cons were keeping their cool, even Starscream was smirking arrogantly. And the Autobots watched, having trouble deciding whether they should feel insulted or just stare bemused at the spectacle as Megatron continued to yell at his soldiers, albeit not with the anger he could have shown.

_C H R I S T M A S_

The recreation room was echoing with laughter from the post-battle celebration. The Autobots were drinking, listening to music and having their merry time. Even Ratchet had joined this time, which was a rare event, because the post-battle celebration wasn't always a celebrative time at all. More often than good was, it was a somber time, where the medics and engineers would fix and repair, maybe even fight to save a comrade's spark. But this time Ratchet had been pleased to announce that there had been no casualties and very little damage. On both sides.

The Decepticons had been too busy either making one big joke out of it or yelling at each other. Finally, Megatron had seen sense in retreating ("I will be back, Prime!") and the Decepticons, some hauling still laughing 'cons, had flown up in the air and away.

And at the moment the Autobots were making absolute _wonderful_ imitation of the enemies' shocked and stunned faceplates, and the roar of laughter grew by each impression and high grade energon cube. And Ratchet, the sensible, at-the-moment-_still_-green medic, was laughing along, forgetting it all in the taste of the high grade and the ecstasy of the moment.

They needed more Decembers, Ratchet decided.

--------------

_A/N: Yes, Ratchet has come to realize what we all wish for. For god's sake, can somebody just invent a Christmas in the summer?!_

_Okay, I know this is a day late, and that I was supposed to post chapter 18 today, but I've got a perfectly good reason. 8 am the 18__th__ December, I turned in a 20 pages assignment I have been working on for some time. Problem was that I had not finished it the 17__th__ so… I kinda didn't sleep at all that night. It's now just before midnight the 18__th__ and I still haven't slept. Tomorrow there's gonna be two chapters._

_On the other hand: HOLY PRIMUS IN A FREAKIN' TINY HANDBASKET!! 100+ reviews!! I'm totally spazzing out (which might also be due lack__ of sleep)! All you guys, dear god, you are all my muses!! You have no idea how much 100+ reviews means to me! I… Thank you! Thank you so deeply!_

_And this is not the last we will see of the Decepticons._


	18. Eighteen faithful followers

**25 days of Christmas**

**Eighteenth: Eighteen**** faithful followers**

As more mistletoe plants kept appearing in the hallways and doorframes, a small patrol of Autobots had done a fair job removing them again. At first there had only been three members in little team, but now there were several. Prowl, Ratchet and Red Alert had been the first, for various reasons. Red Alert had been paranoid every time he had seen the plant, Ratchet was beyond annoyed when Sideswipe used them to piss him off and Prowl did not wish for those foolish games to spread all over. It might be Christmas, but he had to draw a line.

Then, Red Alert, for unknown reasons, had dropped out of the Mistletoe Patrol. Ratchet had demanded an explanation, but gotten none. With one less member and with the Dinobots going in a frenzy about the whole thing (Prowl swore he heard them muttering about 'dividing by zero' all the time, and that made absolutely no sense) the two of them struggled to keep up removing the dreaded plants.

Ironhide had joined not that long after the Dinobots had received the mistletoes from their Secret Santa. He refused to say why. Sunstreaker and Brawn followed shortly after.

Now, through hours of hard work, the Mistletoe Patrol had managed to remove all the mistletoe on the _Ark_. They far from expected it to stay that way, but if they kept the 'mistletoers' occupied, they could keep the hallways free for a long time.

Four of five hours later, they discovered, to their great horror and annoyance, that all – if not more – the mistletoe plants were back up. They had Red Alert show them the security recordings, which he dutifully did.

Jazz had gotten some followers. And that was to put it mildly.

Blaster, Bumblebee, Rewind, Eject, Bluestreak, Hound, Sideswipe, Trailbreaker, Wheeljack, Windcharger, Beachcomber, Smokescreen, Inferno and Jazz himself had all, over the past hours, put mistletoes up various places.

Mistletoe Patrol stared at the screens.

"That's it, I give up!" Ratchet suddenly exclaimed, throwing up his arms before stomping out of the security room. Sunstreaker, Brawn and Ironhide all dropped out too and grumpily left.

"Well," Prowl sighed, optics on the screen of Jazz hanging a mistletoe in the entrance of the command center. "I guess Mistletoe Patrol is disbanded…" He glanced to Red Alert who merely shrugged.

_C H R I S T M A S_

Jazz was pleased to discover that several hours later the mistletoe was still hanging. He had won this one.

--------------

_A/N: 18__th__ battle: Jazz!_

_So here's the 18__th__. I know the number does not fit the amount of followers XD_

_And I'm finally off school. It's almost Christmas, and I've bought ZERO gifts. Dang. And I'll try answering to all the lovely reviews, but it's getting kind of hard to keep up, especially when you're as lazy as I am... ^^;_

_19__th__ should be up soon._


	19. Nineteen amused musings

**25 days of Christmas**

**Nineteenth: Nineteen**** amused musings**

It was weird, really, how quick most of the month called December had passed. Jazz had become more and more excited as the time passed, and he had dragged most of the _Ark _with him. Admitted, the mood was infectious, but maybe it could be just too much.

Prowl was musing, thinking about the past days, not really reading the datapad in his hand. His office was quiet but his thoughts noisy. He wasn't really sure what to think of it anymore.

"_Prowl!_" Ironhide's drawl suddenly cut through the communication link and the SIC's thoughts. The red warrior sounded annoyed, angry… bemused? Prowl couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Ironhide," he answered calmly.

"_Could you…_" Ironhide trailed off, sounding like he could blow up but he plainly didn't know what to say. "_The training room is…_" A '_poff'_ of something soft connecting with metal and breaking apart suddenly cut him short, and the line was silence for several seconds.

"_Would you jus' get to the training area!?!_" the warrior suddenly yelled, causing Prowl to jump. It was followed by Ironhide shouting furiously at someone else than Prowl before cutting the link.

Prowl got up, unsure if he should be worried, and stalked out of his office. Walking down the hallway, he wondered what could have happened… It was quite possible—

Prowl stopped in the doorway to the training room, getting a feeling of déjà-vu as he stared surprised at the interior.

First off he observed that the temperature was below zero Celsius, which was weird… but not as weird as all. that. _white_.

The training room was now perfectly fit for a snowball fight.

Snow in piles, heaps, everywhere, creating an absurdly huge and indoor scenery of winter. Bumblebee, Beachcomber and Windcharger were building a snowman together, Perceptor was studying the snow with his microscope, Sideswipe was currently running like a mad bull was in his heels – which, actually, wasn't all that wrong, because Ironhide was the one chasing, resistant snow still visible on his helmet. Sideswipe was also laughing and he kept yelling "Headshot! Headshot!" Jazz, who had formed a large snowball in his metallic hands and had been aiming it at Ironhide's back, glanced over his shoulder as the door opened and smiled when he saw the baffled Prowl.

He dropped the snowball, turned to face the second-in-command, crossed his arms and waited. Prowl's optics were flickering around the cold room as he took it in, slightly openmouthed in surprise.

Jazz waited patiently, smug smile plastered on his faceplate.

Prowl focused on the saboteur, looking like he was thinking of saying _something_ but without the words to say it.

Jazz studied the tactician as he once again saw the slight twitch of one doorwing. Almost…

Prowl snerked. A small smile was spreading on his lips.

Jazz grinned joyously and in triumph.

"I got ya!" the saboteur exclaimed. Even if it was only the tactician's smile – there was still work to do to get him in the Christmas mood – it was yet another victory.

Prowl left the training room snickering.

--------------

_A/N: And he never found out how Jazz had dropped the snow there…_

_So yes, the 19__th__. Finally back on schedule. Now, I've got three unplanned (but still lots of ideas) days leading up to Christmas, and just so you know I'm still open for ideas. Also ideas of anything you think they should do on Christmas Eve or any present you think would be absolutely perfect for one particular 'bot! Please share_

_Enjoy your Christmas time!_


	20. Twenty toppling Transformers

**25 days of Christmas**

**Twentieth: Twenty**** toppling Transformers**

Jazz was winning. He knew that very well, and so did everyone else. Of course there was still some 'bots who doubted, and some 'bots who respectfully kept their distance to the whole thing, but the saboteur would get them eventually. He was absolutely certain. Though Ratchet, Ironhide, Prowl and Optimus was proving difficult. Ratchet was dubious (and possibly annoyed about the pranks), Ironhide flat out didn't want to (the little Christmas mood he had showed with the tree decorating had for some reason disappeared some days ago), and Prowl and Optimus was simply not in the mood. Even if the big leader had accepted Christmas, he wasn't in it yet.

"_Jazz!!_" Ratchet suddenly yelled through the comm. link. "_You've crossed the line!_"

"Crossed the line?" Jazz answered confused, standing from his desk and the datapad where he had been writing his next scheme. The Hatchet-sense wasn't that good, was it? "Whacha mean?"

"_You know very well wha—!_" Ratchet suddenly yelped, and there was a sound of metal colliding with metal. "_The hallways, now!!_"

Jazz, smart enough not to question a pissed off Ratchet's orders, quickly exited his office – yes, he _did _have one – but instead of turning and continue down the hallway, he less-than-elegantly slid across and connected with the opposite wall.

Shocked and confused, he looked around from his position on his back, and saw Ratchet pushing an equally startled Bluestreak off him. It was easy to see that the two had connected and fallen, but why…

"Ouwow…" Jazz muttered. The floor was… icy! That was all there was to it.

Though Jazz' sensors probably should have picked up the low temperature before.

"Jazz, you slagger!" Ratchet was roaring, adding in some more colorful insults. "The music, okay. The tree, fine. The snow, tolerable!" The medic managed to get seated, but that was about what he could do. "THIS IS NOT!"

"I didn't do nothin'!" Jazz exclaimed, and quite glad that Ratchet couldn't get up.

"Are you even _trying_ to tell me that this isn't _your_ idea?!" Ratchet yelled, trying to get up but once again slipping and landing on his back. Bluestreak, just beside the medic, was simply not trying, studying the ice and the situation for once a little speechless.

Jazz was just about to defend himself again when Sideswipe came skating – literally ice skating! – past the downed Autobots. Well, no need to explain now.

"_Sideswipe_, you little Primus-forsaken…" and yet again a flow of insults. Sideswipe merely grinned to the medic, skating in a circle around him. He had modified his stabilizer servos to have a little blade underneath, Jazz discovered.

"Aw, you fell, little Ratch'?" The red warrior snickered, mighty pleased with himself. Ratchet lurched forward, only to be dodged and to slide along the ice a little.

Then, all of a sudden, there was another startled yell followed by a crash that really shouldn't be so loud. Sideswipe froze, almost toppling himself, when he heard who it was.

"What in the Matrix?" sounded a baffled Optimus. Jazz turned his head and there was Optimus, flat on his back with datapads still gliding on the ice around him. The saboteur heard Sideswipe mutter an "Uh oh", and that was almost what he thought himself, even if innocent.

Silence dominated the hallway, some waiting in horror, others in anticipation.

It was broken by Optimus' deep laughter. The Autobots stared at the big leader as the booming mirth continued, Sideswipe relieved, Jazz amused and Ratchet and Bluestreak surprised.

Still chuckling joyous, the Autobot leader tapped the side of his helmet, contacting a comrade. "Wheeljack… If you wouldn't mind regulating the temperature in the hallways… A couple of minutes, sure. Oh, and while you're at it, could you contact Prowl and have him escort Sideswipe to the brig? Thank you."

The casual, cheerful request had Sideswipe's smile fall right off his faceplate. Jazz laughed as Ratchet exclaimed a "Ha!"

--------------

_A/N: And there he could spend the next couple of hours… It was difficult to say if Optimus were amused or __not._

_So, it's almost Christmas! I can't wait, I'm just so thrilled, but totally busy. Haven't even bought any presents yet! *panics*_

_My mail was acting up too, for some reason I didn't receive notice when I got a new review. Hopefully it works now._

_Five chapters to go!_


	21. Twentyone children small

**25 days of Christmas**

**Twenty-first: Twenty-one children**** small**

"I can't believe you convinced me to do this…"

"Aw, c'mon Ratch', ya look… stunning…"

Ratchet grumbled to Jazz who was grinning widely in return. The medic was beginning to regret saying yes in the first place. The saboteur had said nothing about the red jacket, the black paint, the hat or the _beard_. Primus, it was ridiculous.

"'Member, i's for the kids… 'Sides, I thin' ole 'Hide thought ya looked good." Jazz smiled smugly. Ratchet spluttered incredulously, but had no retort on that one.

_C H R I S T M A S_

"Why me…" the white ambulance muttered as they walked in their bipedal modes toward the outer area of the nearest town. With Ratchet dressed like an oversized version of the humans' Santa Claus – Jazz had his good methods of persuasion – he couldn't transform. So they walked; a pleasant but very slow change of transport.

"Cuz yar big, white 'n' red and in need of sum' Christmas mood, man," Jazz grinned to the medic, blue visor flashing happily. Ratchet just grunted noncommittal, tugging the white, fake beard down around his neck. Jazz was going to run the base dry of money on that stupid Customize Your Christmas company, Ratchet thought.

"If any pictures of me in… _this_… turns up…" Ratchet trailed off threateningly. Jazz just waved a hand dismissivly in the air.

"Yeah, yeah, 'm a dead mech."

"No… I'm just not going to give you any painblockers for the Christmas hangover." Ratchet smirked when he saw Jazz wince.

"Aw, man, that's jus' cruel…"

"I know."

_C H R I S T M A S_

"Ya ready for this?"

"No…" If possible, Ratchet sounded a little… worried.

The two Autobots were standing by a huge… toy store, of sorts. It was located the quite odd place of the outer edge of the city, and was probably more of a storage warehouse than an actual shop. Either way, it was there the deal was supposed to work its magic, and attract quite a lot of little human kids. The generous humans that managed the toy outlet had agreed to hand out one thing to each and every kid – a thing the kid wished for that was available at their store – only if a Transformer would act as a giant, kind Santa Claus.

"_Humans aren'__t that generous…" Ratchet had huffed at first._

"_Christmas change people, man," Jazz had answered. "An' it's good publicity."_

"_Figures…"_

And for some reason, known to only the higher beings themselves and Jazz, Ratchet had been picked out as the Santa. He had rejected at first, but Jazz knew that the medic was a soft-plated mech when it came to the younglings of any specie.

So there the dressed up medic was sitting, outside the door of some big – and it was rather huge – toy store. Luckily, the area was pretty deserted normally. Now, unfortunately, there was a flood of human parents with their wide-eyed kids.

Ratchet shifted nervously on the hastily build wooden box he had been giving to sit on, glancing to Jazz who stood by his side, grinning widely.

"_What now?_" Ratchet asked over the communication link.

"_Ya begin, like we practiced. Oh, and remember the laugh!_"

If there had been a proper response from 'Santa', it was drowned out by the cursing and insulting.

"_Language, Ratch'._"

"_Oh, for Primus sake…_"

And then the act began. Ratchet dropped his grumpy medic attitude and adopted the jolly-Christmas-Santa attitude (though it seemed quite strained). Fortunately, the kids were too awestruck to really notice that. Who wouldn't be, there was a giant version of Santa laughing in front of them.

Jazz was the only one who could hear the slight curses in between, through the comm. link. Either way, Ratchet acted pleasant (as pleasant as he could be), listened to the kids who he helped up to sit on his knee (trying not to look slightly bored), and he dutifully repeated that odd laugh to the little creatures' glee.

Then there was the troublesome kid once or twice. "Santa doesn't exist!" one little boy exclaimed the second he sat on the white Autobot-in-disguise's knee.

"Oh really?" Ratchet just said, not looking impressed, as he carefully picked the kid up and placed him down on the ground. "Well, if I don't exist, then you can wait down there and let the nice kids pass."

It left the same result every time. The child looked devastated, Ratchet waited a little before picking the child back up, asking if he/she would be nice now and getting an eager nod in response.

And the toy store held their promise, giving every kid one thing for free, no matter what their pointed at. Some of the older ones choose the expensive stuff, even if they didn't want it, and then there was the ones who picked what they really wanted.

There was a little girl now, sitting on Ratchet's giant knee and looking up at the 'Santa' in awe, all packed up in outdoors clothes; woolly hat, big jacket, and colorful mittens. When Ratchet asked the usual question "What would you like for Christmas" he got an unusual response.

"I would like it to snow!"

Ratchet, both optic ridges raised, honestly didn't know what to say. "_Uh… Jazz…_" he contacted the saboteur.

"_Yeah?_"

"_This one wants snow…_" So far, all the requests had been reasonable, and the ones that hadn't were by some of the slightly older children who knew that those request couldn't be fulfilled.

But this little girl was sincerely asking for snow, and was probably expecting it too.

"_Dun' worry, Ratch',_" Jazz sounded like he found it incredibly amusing. Ratchet didn't find it funny; he didn't want to disappoint a little girl like that. "_I've gotit cover'd!_"

"_Covered, how can you have it covered?!_"

Jazz didn't respond, instead he left Ratchet to stare at the little girl who stared back expectantly.

And then it began to snow. Ratchet barely held back the "What the…" as he looked up, surprised. Jazz had made it _snow_! How the Pit— Oh, there was a mechanism on the roof, he could see it if he zoomed in on it. Clever.

"_Quick save…_" Ratchet huffed to Jazz as he looked down to the kid. The little redheaded girl's eyes was positively gleaming, a smile as wide as her face plastered on, as she held a mitten-covered hand out to catch a snowflake.

"Thank you, Santa!" she said as she studied the slowly melting snowflake in her hand before looking up and smiling warmly.

Well, that was certainly spark-warming.

_C H R I S T M A S_

As the two Autobots were walking back to base, Ratchet taking off the Santa disguise so he wouldn't be seen with it on, and Jazz talking about what a success it had been, it began snowing.

Ratchet glanced to Jazz, who merely held up his hands, a grin growing on his face.

The medic sighed, looking up at the darkened sky from where the tiny snowflakes fell. "… How very cheesy…"

Jazz could just snicker in response.

--------------

_A/N: Christmas is a cheesy time, Jazz knew that._

_Well, this turned out quite long… and quite late… Darn it._

_Still, guys, any ideas, suggestion for the party, the presents, anything is welcome. I can honestly say that I have no idea what tomorrow's chapter is gonna be about…_

_And by the way, the ice skating idea was sparked from a review by –permantlyonfire- and this one was sparked by a review from Imbri (anonymous). Thanks, you guys!!_

_I'm having trouble deciding who I should hint as Ratchet's 'partner' (If I give him one). I don't really ship anything (doesn't mean I can't enjoy) and RatchetxTwins and RatchetxIronhide seems to be the most popular out there… I dunno._

_Four to go!_


	22. Twentytwo rhymes to rhyme

**25 days of Christmas**

**Twenty-second: Twenty-two ****rhymes to rhyme**

The time was nearing

It was very well known

And with the constant cheering

There was also a groan

_---_

_Falala in your ear_

_Falala is all you hear_

---

He had really tried

But he didn't see the fun

The poor ole Ironhide

Yes, the very one.

_---_

_Tralala in the hall_

_Tralala from the wall_

---

The mistletoe was the worst

He still tried to forget

And though he had cursed

It was still a threat

_---_

_Hohoho just for mock_

_Hohoho from the doc_

---

Ratchet didn't throw

No disrupt in the crew

And the still falling snow

That was the first clue

_---_

_The first little clue_

_The first in a shoe_

---

The minibots adapted well

And going most 'bots to the knees

It was hard to tell

Why Prowl was in such an unease

_---_

_The second little clue_

_The second __in a shoe_

---

Red Alert, Inferno, Mirage, Hound

Barely known by themselves

All acting like magically bound

Like happy, little, stupid elves

_---_

_The third little clue_

_The third in a shoe_

---

But poor ole Ironhide

He tried not to be rude

But it was even dangerous outside

And he was simply not in the mood

_---_

_The fourth little clue_

_The fourth in a shoe_

---

Jazz was the only one

Of the pitiful fools

He knew he hadn't won

Yet to use the right tools

_---_

_The fifth little clue_

_The fifth in a shoe_

---

Poor ole Ironhide

He knew there was a plan

He would have to decide

But he was still not a fan

_---_

_The sixth little clue_

_The sixth in a shoe_

---

A datapad in his room

Pushed under the door

Not promising doom

But the promise of 'four'?

_---_

_The seventh little clue_

_The seventh in a shoe_

---

It was a hard nut to crack

Maybe he should just ignore

But maybe it was his blackjack

In the on-going Christmas war

_---_

_The eighth little clue_

_The eighth in a shoe_

---

With a little hack

Too easy to unlock

He was able to track

The 'four' to the clock

_---_

_The ninth little clue_

_The ninth in a shoe_

---

Then four o' clock sharp

Twins screaming of a plot

Through the halls of the _Ark_

Chased by mistletoed Dinobots

_---_

_The tenth little clue_

_The tenth in a shoe_

---

Poor ole Ironhide

Was laughing so hard

He tried not to die

While keeping his watch guard

_---_

_It was pretty mean_

_Recording it on the screen_

---

Maybe it wasn't so bad

Twins chased through another hall

He should just be glad

It was Christmas after all

_---_

_Hohoho __in the hat_

_Hohoho where Santa sat_

_Tralala on your mind_

_Tralala if you'__re kind_

_Falala in your head_

_Merry Christmas__ to be said_

--------------

_A/N: Dear Primus, even Ironhide? D8_

_Well this was… different… Fun, admitted, but seriously difficult XD I'm not a poet person, I guess._

_But all of it was made by me, I didn't have a basis from somewhere else. It's all just mine case of weirdness!_

_I'm stressing! But… CHRISTMAS!!_

_Three to go!_


	23. Twentythree moments to forget

**25 days of Christmas**

**T****wenty-third: Twenty-three moments to forget**

"_**Christmas Alert: Mistletoe approaching!"**_

One could wonder if Red Alert had forgot to change the alarm, or someone had changed it back to the abnormal one that rung throughout the _Ark_ at the moment. Some would probably even have laughed if it had been another alarm-check-day.

Problem was; it wasn't.

"Frag it!" Jazz cursed, suddenly losing a bit of his Christmas mood.

What was even worse; Optimus and some of the Autobots were out to represent the wholecrew when some humans wanted to honor them. 'In the spirit of Christmas' as the organics had said.

So if Decepticons decided to attack, it wasn't really in the Autobots favor.

"Teletraan-1, display visual!" Prowl ordered the computer as Jazz ran into the command room with a bunch of the other Autobots following. Hound, Wheeljack, Gears, Windcharger and Bluestreak did not look happy, Mirage had already cloaked, Inferno was probably trying to calm Red down back in the monitor center, Ironhide was growling curses under his intake and Huffer actually said what the others felt.

"We are all _dead_ if Megatron is attacking!"

"Shaddup, Huffer!" Ironhide directed his anger at the minibot.

Jazz himself wasn't pleased with the situation at all. Of course the damn Decepticons had to attack on the twenty-third… They couldn't wait to _after_ Christmas or just after New Year. Primus, Jazz had one of those moments where he could just grow tired of the never-ending war!

Prowl was going through all the different battle tactics they could use against Megatron and his minions when they were one Prime short, Jazz could see that. "Blaster, how quick can we contact Prime?" he tapped the side of his helmet as he asked the communication expert. He didn't seem happy with the answer he got, which Jazz could guess was something like; 'Within a sec. But the problem is gettin' them back'.

Then Teletraan-1 displayed the best visual it could get, which wasn't good, but would do. It displayed… three, no wait, _five_ Decepticons? Not only that, but the enemy had landed quite far away from the Autobot base and just… stood there.

"Red Alert, is it true there's only five Cybertronian signatures in the area outside the _Ark_?" Prowl asked the security director through the comm. link, getting an affirmative. "What are they up to?" the tactician mumbled to himself. Jazz squinted at the screen, trying to determine so himself. And his jaw almost hit the floor when he figured it out.

_C H R I S T M A S_

Beside Prowl, Jazz suddenly spun into action, turning around and running towards the exit of the _Ark._

"Jazz?" Prowl called to the third-in-command. When Jazz didn't stop, Prowl followed. "What are you doing?" If he was going out to fight, he could at least warn the rest of them so they could get ready.

When Jazz didn't even turn to answer Prowl and just kept for the exit, Prowl got worried. "Jazz?"

And the stupid, fragged up glitch of a saboteur just ran right into the open of the outside. Prowl lurched forward, grabbing the white arm and almost succeed in dragging the glitch back. "Stop! What the Pit are you thinking?!"

Finally Jazz turned, easily slipping out of the grip and _smiling_ to Prowl. "Chill, man, ya've ta trust me on this."

"Trust you?! You're walking directly to the enemy!"

"Yeah, baby," Jazz said, smiling boldly to the slack-jawed and confused tactician. "Stay here, ya dig? Dun' follow me, I know what 'm doin'. Jus' trust me, Prowler. See ya inna click," he sounded almost rushed, still smiling like a fool as he turned and ran to the Decepticons in the distance.

It was an Omega-sized slag-load of trust he was asking for. But Prowl stayed.

_C H R I S T M A S_

Bluestreak was nervous. He was nervous because Prowl was pacing and that was just unnerving. And when he was nervous he talked. It was totally normal. Luckily, Wheeljack was around and he was one of the few who wasn't too bothered by the chatting, because he could multi-task like no other 'bot Bluestreak knew. It was really quite impressive how he could listen and still think of something completely different.

Red Alert was calling every now and again, demanding an answer no one had. Why in the world had Jazz waltzed out to the Decepticons? Did the happy-go-lucky Christmas-jolly mech a serious deactivation wish? Teletraan-1 was still displaying the visual, but it wasn't that clear and still quite a distance away. If Bluestreak squinted he could spot the wings of a black seeker, but that was about it. Some rocks and stuff was getting in the way.

They had sent Mirage, but the spy was yet to report back. And the little flying camera from Teletraan-1 was still under maintenance.

"_Hey, guys, ya can come out now,_" Jazz suddenly sounded through the Autobots' comm. link.

Prowl perked up considerably when he heard Jazz' voice, obviously glad the saboteur was okay. But he also looked a bit cross. Though not as much as Ironhide sounded a second later over the communication.

"Wha're ya thinkin', ya slagger?! Yar processor rusted!?"

Red Alert was the one two tell the other point of view. "Why should we, Jazz?" Oh yes, he most certainly sounded suspicious, Bluestreak thought. But who could blame him? "You… You've been within enemy presence for a period of time; you walked to them _willingly!_ It's all a trap, isn't it? You are a traitor!"

Oh uh, sounded like Red Alert was about to fritz. Hopefully Inferno had it under control. It did sound like he had when he was the next to talk.

"He's righ', Jazz. Even Ah kno' walkin' ta the 'cons is stupid 'n' traitorous."

"_Oh, chill yar circuits, it's jus' two seekers, ole Soundwave 'n' two casseticons. 'Sides, we've a truce._"

The Autobots on the base were silent.

"_Arh, c'mon, jus' get out here, man._"

Surprisingly, Prowl was the first to head for the exit. The other Autobots in the command room followed, some more reluctantly than others.

"Mirage, what do you have?" Hound asked over the communication.

"_I believe… it is quite safe._" came the slightly baffled reply. Hound frowned, worried, but also curious.

Bluestreak was bouncing ideas of what was going on off Wheeljack and vice versa. But neither had guessed anything near what was actually going on.

_C H R I S T M A S_

Hound was grinning by the time he realized what was going on. The Decepticons had actually come to them in… _peace_! They weren't even armed (or at least any visible weaponry was gone, like the seekers' arm blasters). Thundercracker, Skywarp, Frenzy, Rumble and _Soundwave_ were just standing there, Jazz in front of them, and the saboteur was grinning widely.

But it was the little details that told what was really going on. The random stickers on Thundercracker's wings, the grins on the Decepticon twins' faceplates… Skywarp's _Santa hat!_

A Christmas truce!

How in the name of Cybertron Soundwave had come along was completely beyond Hound's imagination.

"We've a truce, guys," Jazz exclaimed excitedly, throwing out his arms. "Today's the day o' peace 'mongst the Christmas folks!"

Then Prowl's logic center crashed and he keeled sideways. Ironhide managed to catch the falling tactician even though he looked like he was about to crash himself.

Jazz grinned, probably expecting nothing else. "'Hide, ya mind takin' him ta the med bay, have First Aid look him over?"

Ironhide just shook his head, still looking surprised, and he hefted the police car transformer over the shoulder and headed for the _Ark_.

Hound just knew it was going to be one of his weirdest days, ever.

_C H R I S T M A S_

At first, the two sides had been incredibly suspicious of each other – except for Jazz – and the two factions just stood and stared at each other. Skywarp looked quite happy, though.

Of course, Bluestreak couldn't help himself, so he asked a lot of questions, which Skywarp happily answered. As it turned out, Skywarp was the one who had dragged Thundercracker along and Rumble and Frenzy had dragged Soundwave with them. The purple and black seeker was the one to start the whole thing in the first place, researching deeper into the subject of Christmas after their last encounter. Skywarp had messed the Decepticon base up a great deal in the few days and finally, when Megatron busy with something else, had landed them where they were now. When the subject came to how he had gotten the whole 'Christmas truce' idea, Skywarp gave the credit to Thundercracker, who had 'by accident' stumbled upon the human war story.

Then there was another round of staring-silence.

And then Jazz started to sing. Hum was probably more accurate, but nevertheless humming Christmas songs. Skywarp started to hum along. Thundercracker looked quite embarrassed, really.

All of a sudden, the tension had completely left the Cybertronians. Though Soundwave, Huffer and Gears stayed behind their respective group, the others were actually chatting… almost friendly.

They exchanged whatever stuff they had on them. Windcharger gave Rumble a Santa hat, Frenzy had a datalog with old Cybertronian music he gave back. Bluestreak had some extra plastic baubles he rather nervously handed out to Thundercracker who hung them on Skywarp's wingtips, and the gunner got some large Christmas stickers from the purple seeker. Jazz even managed to slap on of those sticky hearts on Soundwave's helmet. The cassette player didn't really react, taking the decoration off so he could study it before putting it back on the helmet. Several Autobots were quite amazed by that simple 'take off, put back, nothing happened' indifference the Decepticon showed.

Skywarp and Thundercracker then drew cubes of high grade from subspace. _Good_ high grade. Hound had by that time managed to nudge Mirage out of the cloak to have the spy confirm that it was some seriously old grade, all the way from when they lived on Cybertron. From whom the seekers had stolen it, they wouldn't tell. On the other hand, the Decepticons had been thrilled of the sweet, slightly thicker textured energon that Perceptor had invented in the spirit of Christmas. Though the two sides didn't drink much, it was still enjoyed and saved for later.

Jazz had long since calmed the rest of the crew back on the _Ark_ down, even Red Alert. He had offered them to come outside, but even though Inferno was deadly curious, he thought it would be better to stay inside with the paranoid security director. He was probably right too. And Ironhide had just decided that it was best if he didn't get into some slag. Maybe later he would come out.

It was beginning to grow dark, the still present snow even muting the sounds around them. The darkness was closing them in, in their own little world, where they were not Autobots and Decepticons. They were just Cybertronians, celebrating something a bit alien to them, but still exciting and a welcomed change from the war.

Now, the Cybertronians were humming, but not a human song and not with their vocalizers. It was a century old Cybertron celebration song, one done by the machinery on their inside. Hums and hisses, clicks and cracks; every sound they could make to complete the deep rumbling and higher tones of a song that they all knew from their old, old Cybertron. The snow both embraced and stilled, enhanced and cherished the tones from their very beings.

They all sang.

And they enjoyed it, though they all knew that when Christmas was over… it never happened.

--------------

_A/N: …_

_I wish I didn't have to include the Author's Note, because it was one of those ending that should just leave you there._

_But I have something to say, and I wish of you to listen._

_Now, this was an idea from my father, who I cherish for being such a cool dad. He doesn't know much about Transformers, but I often talks about it either way. I told him about my Christmas stories (and told him that I'm so very proud that people read this, that people laughs to this) and he reminded me of this old story I had been told as just a kid. A truly magical story from 1914/15, on the Western front, I believe, where Germans and Brits met on Christmas, between their two lines, in No Man's Land, and celebrated Christmas. No one was shot, no one was injured (except maybe accidentally) and there was not trap. Two people in a war, still playing football on Christmas Eve/Day. They exchanged presents, they sang – even if in different language – and there was no war between them._

_It is stories like this that remains us that Christmas is not only the time of love, but the time of trust, hope and peace._

_Merry Christmas._

_(Two to go. It is quite possible that the next one is going to be a bit late... And when did these drabbles stop being drabbles?!)_


	24. Twentyfour little surprises

**25 days of Christmas**

**Twenty-fourth: Twenty-four**** little surprises**

This was it. Christmas Eve. It was the start of that something the Autobots had waited all December for. Many of them feared what Jazz would think of next, others looked forward to it. Truth be told, Jazz hadn't planned some big prank or scheme for the day, he had decided to just go with the flow and see how the day turned out. Beside, the Autobots was convinced, they were all in the Christmas mood one way or another. You could even say that Jazz had won the war.

But he hadn't, not yet. Prowl was being a persistent bugger.

Jazz had tried by infecting the other members of the _Ark_, and to infect Prowl himself, but had yet to really succeed. It did bother him, but he stuffed it in the back of his processor, getting ready to the meeting.

Jazz had given all the Autobots a loose time in the day where they should meet up in the recreation room; he had said in the afternoon. Optimus had afterwards made it mandatory.

_C H R I S T M A S_

Optimus arrived a bit early, when it was only Bluestreak and Wheeljack who could be found in the recreation room. He greeted them but left them to their chatting (or Bluestreak's) as he sat himself to the side of the room to study the Autobots as they slowly filled in the recreation room. Hound and Mirage arrived together, followed by Smokescreen and after him the rest of the Autobots arrived either in groups or by themselves. It was only when Bumblebee, Spike, Carly, Sparkplug and an old lady no one recognized arrived that the rest of them was told that whatever presents they had bought/made was supposed to go under the tree for now.

So they were placed, all kinds of wrapped up, unknown present for the whole crew to wonder which were theirs. Some 'bots placed more presents than others, like Optimus who had felt it a certain duty to give every single one of them a Christmas present. The small humans also placed a whole bunch of smaller ones underneath the tree, often on top of a larger box to prevent any of it to get stepped on.

Optimus shortly after had to order Sideswipe and Sunstreaker out on the hallway to get all that snow off their plating. Apparently, as Brawn had explained, the twins had taken a wrestle in the currently white training area.

The old lady (who was later identified as Spike's grandmother) was at the moment getting familiar with the minibots; Bumblebee, Windcharger and Cliffjumper especially. The minibots seemed rather surprised by the energy of the grey-haired lady, who looked fragile but really didn't act like that.

Now most of the Autobots was standing or sitting around in the recreation room, talking to each other excitedly. Some tried to get out of others what they would get for Christmas, but no one said so. Even Prowl had arrived, but he was simply sitting a little by himself, watching the spectacle in the room. Optimus gave him a short look, but the leader was studying the other Autobots himself, so he had nothing to say. Jazz was the only one missing. Red Alert had surprisingly left his security room and was letting Teletraan-1 do the surveillance.

Then Jazz made his entrance with a huge grin, a Santa hat on his helmet, two rather huge sacks in his hands and a loudly exclaimed "Merry Christmas". He wasn't all sure if it was only on Christmas Day you said that, but either way he could just as well start on Christmas Eve. He dumped the two sacks by the wall and first thing he did was to direct the Dinobots to assemble several of the tables into one big where they could all sit. That done, he ordered everyone – no exceptions – to sit and then proceeded to take the sacks and empty them on the big table, in the middle.

To say that the Autobots knew how to do Christmas would be a wrong assumption. Sure, they had the basics but researching _how_ to do Christmas on the internet had proved… difficult. There was so many ways to do it that it had confused even Jazz. But Jazz had just taken whatever matched a little with what he had heard from Spike, and then there was this game the saboteur had found.

All the wrapped-up presents now lying on the table was the purpose of that game. All kinds of shapes, sizes, colors and softness were just spread out in the table, though without nametags or anything like that. Optimus did a quick scan and calculated that there might be about a hundred presents.

"The rules are simple," Jazz had then said, standing up on his chair. "There are two dices, one in each end of the table," With that, he threw a dice to Tracks who were sitting at the other end of the table, throwing a dice cup too. After shortly thanking Wheeljack for making the Cybertronian-sized gaming equipment, he continued. "You roll one time and the dices go the same directions as the clock," some of them had to get reminded of that one, since they were used to digital, and it was handing the dice to their left, "when you roll a 'six' you can take a present from the center of the table."

A couple of mechs huffed; that didn't sound all too fun. Jazz just smirked, continuing. "When all presents have been spread I will set a timer to a time only I know. When that begins we add an extra rule; if rolling a 'one' you have to hand over one of your own presents to the mech on your right. And now, when you roll a 'six' you can steal one present from whomever you want. When the time ends you get to keep the present you have in front of you."

That did seem to interest more Cybertronians and as Jazz started the game many rolled the dice eagerly, hoping for a 'six'.

Present were actually spread fairly quick, even with the huge amount. Some 'bots were growing frustrated when they didn't manage to roll a six and others were steadily building themselves a little mountain. The humans – having their own dice to roll with – were having increasing trouble looking over the oversized boxes, even if Jazz had made sure there were some more human-friendly in size. In the end they just stood in front of the presents they were hoarding, still standing or sitting on the table itself – Bumblebee was helping them gathering the gifts.

It was a nice, calm game that everyone seemed to enjoy, if only a little. Until the presents were spread and the game _really_ began. It was almost a battle! Most of the bots found a present they liked – even if they didn't know the contents – and most of them didn't give up on that present. Sunstreaker was having a rather fierce battle-of-the-dice with Tracks over a cylinder-shaped, rather heavy, blue-wrapped one. At one point Sideswipe joined in, not because he wanted it, but because he wanted to piss off the two narcissistic Autobots. Bumblebee and Cliffjumper were 'fighting' over a softer package, both laughing triumphantly and knowingly whenever they rolled a six. Mirage and Red Alert had dragged Hound and Inferno in on a fight for a flat, square one. And for some reason, Nanny (that was what they had come to call Spike's grandmother) kept stealing whatever presents Optimus got his hands one.

In the end it was not only a funny game, but an exciting one too. Whenever you lost a particular present, you could only wait for a dice to reach you and _hope_ to roll a six to get it back. And try again and again, hoping you would managed it before time was up.

When the clock rang, there was both yells in victory and groans in defeat. Tracks had ended up with the cylinder-shaped, much to Sunstreaker's chagrin. Bumblebee got the soft one and Hound the flat one. Fortunately, there was not one Autobot who did not get a present. The opening of them started out as a calm 'let us open one at the time to see what everyone gets' but had ended in a feast of torn paper and ribbons. None of the presents were neither expensive nor particular good, they were mostly just humorous.

The cylinder one turned out to be a bucket of bright pink paint. Sunstreaker laughed out loud at that. The soft one in Bumblebee's possession was a big stuffed animal; a dog, a soft toy – about half human size – and the flat one Hound had was a framed picture of what could be Nevada. He was rather pleased with it and Red Alert just shrugged.

There was a vast array of different stuff, some which were traded or given away afterwards. Nanny decided to keep the Cybertronian friendly – meaning for humans; huge – puzzle, if she could get a ride home ("Carry it? Are you crazy, young man?!" she had exclaimed in response to something Wheeljack had said).

To everyone's horror, Sideswipe had gotten – and decided to keep – a Transformer-sized spray can of spray-on snow.

_C H R I S T M A S_

After that, the 'party' moved outside so when they consumed high grade and generally just talked they could do it in the company of their big, decorated Omega Supreme. It was a bit difficult to tell if the guardian felt pleased or annoyed by the fact that he had gotten company outside in the snow.

Several hours were spent out there, talking, celebrating and time from time spent in huge snowball fights. As it grew darker, more Autobots shuffled inside, freezing because of the snow getting in their joints or generally just wanting to get back to the recreation room. Optimus was the last to leave, nodding calmly to Omega who simply nodded back. If the huge Autobot did it to say 'thank Primus, you're leaving me be' or 'thank you for spending your time out here' was only for the two of them to know.

Inside, the 'party' now _really_ turned into a party. With music, dancing and all you could possibly connect to the word 'party'. That did also include karaoke. At the moment, Blaster was doing some pretty awesome remix of both Christmas carols and rock songs.

"Heya Prowler."

Prowl looked up from the datapad he had been reading quietly by an empty table. Jazz stood there, hands on his hips and smiling teasingly.

"Dun' be an ole bore bot an' at leas' join th'other non-dancin' slackers," the saboteur said, indicating to the group of tables where the 'non-dancing slackers' sat. Actually, non-dancing was probably the wrong term, because many of the Autobots not located by that table weren't dancing themselves. Like Sideswipe… he was running in circles around the Christmas tree as he tried to escape the wrath of Ratchet – the medic having been a victim of the snow on a can.

"You know partying isn't my thing, Jazz," Prowl answered, looking a bit tired. As fun partying and celebrating could be, it wasn't his thing at all… and the last month had passed with Jazz trying to convince him otherwise. Admitted, it had been amusing, but it didn't really help.

"I know, 'at's why it's all the more fun tryin' ta getcha into it," Jazz smirked, sticking out a hand for Prowl to take and quite possibly be dragged over to the others by force. The tactician just sighed, seeing no way out of it (Jazz could really be too persistent sometimes) so he subspaced the datapad and took the hand. Truly, he was dragged to his feet and then placed in a chair by Ironhide's side.

"Good boy." Jazz snickered when he saw Prowl's doorwings twitch at the comment, before the saboteur left to join up with Blaster creating the loud racket of a song.

"He got ya too?" Ironhide huffed beside him, the red warrior studying the various scenes out on the floor. Sideswipe's running and Ratchet's chasing, Bluestreak's chatting (yep, that was about all he could do at a party) and Wheeljack, who had gotten the 'brilliant' idea of carrying an actual video camera around. Which was odd because the Cybertronians could actually record with their optical units. What was even weirder was Carly having an absolute laughing fit over Spike's dancing grandmother. Nanny seemed to find it very amusing herself, probably having no idea if she was actually dancing probably… Spike didn't find it as funny.

"I guess so…" Prowl answered Ironhide, his optics on the 'DJing' Jazz as the saboteur seemed to have a blast by the large stereo and DJ system with Blaster. It was funny how he had mixed Christmas with actual partying, without anyone really noticing the difference.

By the end of the party everyone was too tired and/or too drunk to care about opening one present on Christmas Eve. Instead, they decided to meet around midday on Christmas Day to open presents, finding Secret Santas and finishing the Christmas party.

The general population of the _Ark_ went to their quarters to recharge; some looking forward to the next day, others just thinking of recharging the good grade out of their system and even some pondering what on Cybertron they should expect of the following day.

--------------

_A/N: Tomorrow… the day the humans named Christmas Day._

_Okay, I realize that this is actually a day behind… But it was tough waking up the 25__th__ and just knowing that Christmas was over, just like that (in Denmark we do the whole Christmas deal the 24__th__… the 25__th__ is just the day getting over eating all that good food). Anyways, I figured that as we moved closer to the last chapter, the chapters would become longer… This is a freaking full-length chapter, it could go in any of my really long fics… Gezz. And tomorrow's probably gonna be longer._

_Anyways, anything to say, anything to say… Oh right, if I get any of this Christmas stuff wrong, it's because I do it differently than most people that reads this fic (I guess… Americans and all that). The game they play is something we do in my family; I don't know how to translate the name._

_I must admit, I kinda like my 'Grandma Nanny' idea, heh._

_To be concluded!_


	25. Twentyfive endearing endings

**25 days of Christmas**

**Twenty-fifth: Twenty-five ****endearing endings**

Prowl watched Red Alert and Inferno in the recreation room as the firefighter vehicle began to dug through presents underneath the tree to find the one he had gotten for the security director.

Red Alert looked at his friend trying to locate the present – which apparently had landed itself near the trunk of the tree – and his optics suddenly brightened in slight embarrassment and the Lambo glanced away from Inferno.

Hey wait, was what that? Prowl thought as he stared at the two in surprise. Had Red Alert just… checked out Inferno's aft?

Red Alert's blue optics suddenly found Prowl's and they narrowed. Prowl held up he hands, shaking his head; 'nope, he hadn't seen that'. Red seemed somewhat satisfied with that and turned his attention to Inferno as said mech finally had found the sought present.

As the two friends (or apparently more?) sat down by a table, Prowl mused over the last month. Some things had defiantly changed, some more subtle than others. That Hound and Mirage had a 'thing' had become somewhat common knowledge. Hound didn't seem to mind, Mirage did mind. Apparently the scout and the spy weren't the only ones.

The Autobots were all more cheerful, Prowl could tell. He wasn't one to normally spot others feelings, but that much was obvious. Even Ratchet had gotten used to his temporarily green paintjob.

And Jazz… He was…

Prowl shook his head. Maybe he shouldn't read too much into it, it was, after all, Jazz. One could even wonder if Primus would ever understand the saboteur.

The tactician watched in silent amusement as Red Alert tried to figure out what the mess of wires within the package he had just opened was for. Prowl guessed, around the same time as Red figured it out, that it was some sort of new security system Inferno had had someone built; it was easy to see on the way Red Alert smiled.

It was funny how trusting Red Alert had become in this month. Before he would probably have believed it to be a bomb or something like that.

More Autobots were arriving to the recreation room, some overly glad and others apparently suffering under the Cybertronians equivalent of a hangover. Bumblebee looked like he was about to scoop up the four humans that followed alongside him and carry them running the rest of the way to the Christmas tree.

Hound made his entrance with an arm draped around Mirage shoulders – a gesture the spy didn't seem all that comfortable with, at least not in around others – and the green mech dragged the reluctant looking blue Autobot to the tree.

Prowl just sat there, watching the soldiers having a surprising great and calm time in the middle of a war, and he came to a decision within his processor.

By the time Jazz walked cheerfully into the recreation room, Prowl was nowhere in sight.

_C H R I S T M A S_

He had failed. Jazz honestly believed that he had failed. Everyone, but Prowl, was in the Christmas mood. That was fine, sure, all good, but the whole thing had started with _Prowl_.

Jazz was… a bit disappointed, really. If not at the second in command, then at himself.

Perceptor was studying a cube-full of some strange organic matter he had received from Skyfire. Or rather, a mix of stuff from all around the world. Hound was laughing at something he had gotten, Mirage staring at him with an odd look. Ratchet was muttering a 'thank Primus' when he opened a present from the twins that contained the long-lost paint remover, Sideswipe grinning widely beside him.

A finger tapped Jazz' arm and he glanced down to Cliffjumper – the red helmet decorated with a Santa hat.

"You seen Prowl?" Jazz asked before Cliffjumper even had a chance to open his mouth. The red minibot scowled shortly before answering.

"He left some time ago…"

"Oh…" Jazz tried not to seem disappointed. Prowl wasn't even going to be there Christmas Day?

"Check your room."

"Mah room? Why woul' he—"

"Not for Prowl, you dolt," Cliffjumper growled, losing what little patient he had. "I'm just giving you a message from someone else. Check. your. room."

Jazz raised an optic ridge underneath the visor. "From who?"

Cliffjumper shrugged and turned to join the festivities around the Christmas tree.

_C H R I S T M A S_

Jazz was slightly confused. Who would ask him to 'check his room'? It was kind of stupid, really, because every interesting thing was happening in the recreation room right now, not in anyone's personal quarters. Okay, that might not be all true, but it wasn't anything Jazz would want to interrupt at least.

It could be Sideswipe planting some prank, though it seemed unlikely. The red warrior didn't have access to Jazz' room, even if he tried. The door wasn't just one to pry open.

By the time he had typed in his code and opened the door, a mess of theories were jumping around in his processor. Some more unrealistic than others, and some he _really_ shouldn't be thinking.

When he turned on the light, an unexpected sight greeted him. In his room, his old stereo system had been replaced with a new, bigger one, which looked like it could blast the audios of every Autobot on base. It was _wonderful!_

Not only that, but there was a datapad attached to one of the speakers.

'_Fine, you got me._

_Merry Christmas._

_-__ Prowl.'_

With mistletoe attached underneath the pad. Jazz grinned widely.

_C H R I S T M A S_

Prowl should sort of have expected the 'attack' from the happy-go-lucky saboteur. When he had sneaked back into the recreation room – after Jazz had left – he had seated himself and again begun reading, though he wasn't really seeing the Cybertronain glyphs, much less actually taking them in.

It was close to be called a 'glomp' as Jazz had called those flying leaps where he pretty much tackled the poor 'bot to the ground. Jazz had, within the second he had spotted Prowl in the recreation room, managed to straddle himself across Prowl's legs, arms on the tacticians shoulders and face-to-face with a little surprised Prowl.

"Ya sure took yar time, Prowler," Jazz said, smiling widely to the mech he had currently captured.

"Well, I can't say you didn't try…" Prowl said calmly, raising an optic ridge.

"When?"

"When what? You will have to elaborate, Jazz."

Jazz snickered. "When did I've ya convinced?"

"Today, actually."

"An' the stereo? Couldn't 'ave done that inna day."

"Do you really think I would get away with not giving you anything? The stereo was planned for a long time, the note is new."

Jazz made a thoughtful noise, still smiling widely. Prowl studied the mech that had successfully trapped him, slightly curios of what the saboteur was thinking. From the corners of his blue optics, he more sensed than saw a couple of mechs nudge their partners and point towards the second and third in command.

"Ya do know wha' the mistletoe does, right Prowler?" Jazz suddenly asked, making Prowl focus back on his capturer. Prowl suppressed the hint of a smile that was about to show on his lips.

"Jazz, you have made sure not even the Dinobots have missed the meaning," Prowl stated calmly, though he felt a rush of… something in his spark.

The saboteur moved his face closer, so the tips of their noses were almost touching. "Then ya do know that the plant has ta be hangin' above us?"

"If you insist on that rule, then you are welcome to go find one."

"Screw the rules."

"Not an attitude I normally approve," Prowl mumbled.

Just then, a new song played in the Christmas room.

"_I don't want a lot for Christmas, there is just one thing I need-_"

Jazz' smile widened, if that was even possible, and he mumbled a "not so gullible after all…"

"Excuse me?" Prowl asked quietly back with a raised optic ridge.

"Nothin'."

"_I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree. I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know-_"

Hound stole himself a kiss on Mirage cheek; the spy's optics brightening. Inferno smirked to Red Alert, and while Red looked like he was about to protest, he couldn't protect himself from the soft peck.

Prowl sighed, like he gave up on something. "Are you going to kiss me or not?" He did manage to sound a bit impatient.

"Thought ya'd never ask," Jazz grinned back, closing the distance between his lips and the tactician's. Prowl's doorwings twitched, both optics and visor brightening in the brief, sparkfelt connection of two so different personalities.

When they finally broke apart, they were silent for a while until Jazz licked his lips. "Tasty," he huffed, with a smirk.

"_Make my wish come true-_"

"How long, Jazz?"

"How long what, Prowler? Ya'll have ta elaborate," came the teasing response.

"How long have you felt… this?"

Jazz was quiet, looking like he was thinking it over, before full focus was turned to the tactician.

"Forever, Prowl."

"_All I want for Christmas is you!_"

--------------

_A/N: _

_Jazz: Consider it a New Year gift._

_Prowl: Oh no, not another tradition…_

_Jazz: Heh._

_You would think that with the holidays I would get more time to write these chapters… Yeah, I think not… But this is my first __**complete**__ multi-chapter project, and I did enjoy writing it, hopefully as much as you liked to read it. I'm both saddened and pleased this it is over._

_I reached an amount of reviews I didn't think possible for a 'newcomer' writer. I thank you all__ deeply!!_

_Thank you, __**Independent.C. **__(anonymous), for the first review, the continuing support and wonderful ideas!_

_Thank you, __**Yami-Yugi3**__, for the continues reviews that let me know you liked it!_

_Thank you, __**Trickster91**__, for the continues supportive reviews, ideas, and sharing your Christmas!_

_Thank you, __**Refracted Imagination**__, for the constant stream (a sometimes bunched together) of reviews, every single one of them signed '- Refracted Imagination' (like I would forget)! :P_

_Thank you, __**-permanentlyonfire-**__, for the support, the curious questions, and funny ideas!_

_Thank you, __**Imbri**__ (anonymous), for the wonderful Santa Ratchet idea!_

_Thank you, __**Optimus Bob**__, for the continues reviews that told me you followed and liked!_

_Thank you, __**cmdrtekk**__, for the deep, thoughtful and often long reviews! Cheered me right up!_

_Thank you, __**Jesus Luvs Everyone**__, for always present, small, reviews that told me I could make the reader laugh!_

_Thank you, __**Alangrieal**__, for helping me with that Christmas song! It was driving me nuts when I couldn't figure it out! Thanks!_

_Thank you, __**MrReviewerGuy**__, for your fun, short reviews that made me laugh!_

_Thank you, __**mdnytryder**__, for your continues support and appreciated reviews!_

_Thank you, __**Knocks**__, for your reviews and telling me of other traditions than Christmas!_

_Thank you__, __**Zak's-blood13**__, for your continues reviews and support! _

_Thank __you, __**Carmilla DeWinter**__, for your reviews and showing that the Decepticons were loved too._

_Thank you, __**knocks**__ (anonymous), for your reviews and support (you are the other Knocks, aren't you?)!_

_Thank you, __**Rubyswordsmaster**__, for you long, funny reviews that I so enjoy reading!_

_Thank you, __**PrancingTiger86**__, __**kelol**__, __**Kitsune Swift**__,__** Joyeu**__,__** LiYaNa1995**__,__** flareflight17**__ (also writer of the shortest review over and all – yet managed to say it all),__** animationiscool**__,__for your individual reappearing presences and reviews!_

_Thank you, __**hecate-19**__, __**Thephonixqueen**__, __**CoalTreasure**__, __**LovePsycho**__(and thanks for the 'Christmas Cupcakes' ;D), __**Kaekokat**__(that you told me you looked forward to each day), __**Cyberdrabot**__(sharing your Christmas tradition), __**alabaster_demon**__(anonymous), __**Dragon Queen88**__, __**Crystal**__(anonymous – thanks for the ideas), __**Misao-CG**__(the kiwi is appreciated ;P), __**AussieAgent**__, __**Octupus Fine**__, __**TheInamorato**__, __**Ashana**__(great support), __**tammy-is-a-turtle**__, for your individual reviews and wonderful support, telling me that many other people read and enjoyed my writing!_

_Thank you EVERYONE for reading, and for enjoying, letting me know that my time is well-spent! All ideas, stories of your own traditions, laughs and simple grins, everything!, are beyond wonderful to receive!_

_Please, if you read and you enjoyed (or even if you hated it), leave a final review and let me know, tell me, even if it is a short laugh it is loved! Show me and others that you did enjoy, that you read, that you laughed, that you hated, everything._

_From my part I can only say a thousand thank yous for your support, your watching, your time and your friendships._

_May 2010 become a wonderful year beyond everything we expect!_


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